5/11/24 - First Blog - Steps 1, 2, 3 of Growing Up

This blog goes along with the Podcast from 5/11/24.  That was the introduction to my model for Adult Human Developmental steps which we MUST all grow through to be mature and to solve the problems of the world - problems we have created.  To review: Step 1 is all about the self.  That's alright when we are infants and don't know any better yet, but as adults - it is ridiculous.  Grow Up!  Luckily, most people did grow up some into Step 2 where they identify as groups.  But this is no where to stop!  So we will be concentrating on going from this step to the next.  Step 2 language compares and divides us.  We, as a species, have lived like that long enough.  Time for Step 3 where we break down walls, eliminate the separation between us, and truly begin to solve the problems that threaten the very survival of our planet.  Our journey of improvement begins now.

Einstein stated, " We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. 

Let us begin to change our thinking by changing our rhetoric in Step 3.

This first example of changing our rhetoric will center on what the protestors on college campuses are saying and doing.  My intention is not to agree or disagree with their stand.  My only aim is to show small changes in language that reap very  different outcomes in people understanding one another calmly and clearly.  That is the only way we will communicate effectively and improve our world.  The demonstrators are using divisive, one-sided names and flags.  These behaviors are totally common in Step 2.  But when we grow into Step 3, we describe ourselves as citizens of the world, not citizens of one country or another.  

Dr Clayborne Carson, American academic, writer, and MLK chronicler, said: "Our moral obligations are not something that emerge from a sense of belonging to a group, a tribe or a race, or a nation; instead, it has to come out of a sense of obligation toward all of humanity, all living things, really.  And once it does, then we can change the world."

Remember, I told you that most people on planet earth are in Step 2.  So why am I so disheartened this week by all the Step 2 comments about Pres Biden pausing a shipment of bombs meant for Israel?  The news was inundated by Step 2 Pro-Israel reactions without any concern for civilians in Gaza.  Pres Biden spoke and acted from a place (Step 3) that these commentators do not appear to be familiar with; a place where we have concern even about the supposed "enemies" in this scenario.  

Every major religion speaks of Love and Compassion - Step 3 qualities.  So here is what disturbs me the most: Jesus said, "Love your enemies." Therefore, Yeshua - the great Jewish wisdom teacher, and Isa - the penultimate prophet in Islam gave that same teaching.  Yet we have Jews, Muslims, and Christians calling for more bombs instead of more love.  Look, I'm not saying Pres Biden is doing exactly what Jesus said to do, but he is in the same ballpark when it comes to taking a tempered approach to the killing of civilians.  Why are so few others speaking like him?  Because of Step 2, that's why.

With every podcast and blog I remind myself that this endeavor is about teaching us to grow up and Make the World A Whole Lot Better.  It most definitely is not about blaming, judging, and saying who is right and wrong.  That sort of speech is exactly why we are in the mess we are in.  I hope I am being successful.  I feel that if we can be objective enough to look at words and actions and call them Step 2 or 3, rather than subjectively saying: "those wacky Democrats" or "those crazy Texans" (these were just made-up examples, of course), that our discussions could go a lot further and we just might be able to solve our problems.  And no problem is bigger than kids in America who do not have 3 meals to eat a day!  

* Anne Frank was right; hunger is an obscenity! *

I had so many wonderful quotes about hunger, that I saved 2 for this blog.  Paul Farmer, medical anthropologist, physician, co-founder of Partners In Health, and known as the man who would cure the world said:  "If I am hungry, that is a material problem; if someone else is hungry, that is a spiritual problem."

And finally Chef Jose Andres, founder of World Central kitchen, said: "If you are lost, share a plate of food with a stranger...You will find who you are."

There are a number of wonderful organizations working tirelessly to aid those in need who come legally to our southern border.  A few of these are:

Annunciation House, Kino Border Initiative, Hope Border Institute, Casa Alitas,  and      Rio Grande Borderland Ministries. My favorite is Las Familias Solidarity, a small group of people who load up their cars with exactly the supplies needed in various shelters in El Paso, TX and then drive to the border every month to deliver these much needed items.  To help them in their work go to the website for St Michael and All Angels in Albuquerque.  All of these groups are best described by the words compassionate and fearless, Step 3.  Take a look at them online.  Some offer volunteer opportunities and pilgrimages on both sides of the border.

My only regret in life is that I never went to Calcutta to work with Mother Teresa.  But then I volunteered at 2 shelters in El Paso which welcome asylum seekers - people from countries all over the world who have legally come to America for the chance of a better life.  All that they needed from me was a meal, a shower, a change of clothes, to make a phone call before moving on.  I threw in as many smiles as I could during their 1 to 2 day stay at the shelter.  I did so little.  Yet, when they left, they hugged me and looked at me as if I were Mother Teresa herself.  

I assure you, I am not.