Tags
Charlottesville, clarity, division, faithful, firm in resolve, grounded, Meg Wheatley, prejudice, racist, steadfast, steadfastness, Texas, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
This morning I read Meg Wheatley’s reflection on the word steadfastness. I was trying to find something to redeem my world from all the racist experiences I heard about or saw on the national news yesterday. All the care of neighbor for neighbor that was imaged over the past week in Texas with no reference to preferred status for rescue seemed washed away in the same kind of horrific visuals and speech that were manifested during the recent incident at Charlottesville. I have no place inside me to find comprehension of such division and prejudice. I thought we had come farther on the road to acceptance of diversity. The question before me this morning is whether or not I will stand up and use my voice in situations that call out prejudice of the kind that I thought had been conquered. Meg Wheatley calls me to a challenge.
Steadfastness is a lovely old-fashioned word that we don’t hear much about these days. It describes how warriors stand their ground, how they find their position and stay there, unshaken and immovable. Steadfast people are firm in their resolve; they are not shaken by events or circumstances. They stand clear in their beliefs, grounded in their cause, faithful to the end. (Perseverance, p. 55)
May it be so in my life, beginning today.
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 
As an old (ahem!, elder) woman, and an activist for Native People, I’ve learned over the years, that the word warrior has many meanings, and Meg Wheatley captured them very well! As Karoniaktajeh used to say, a warrior is an educator, advocate, etc. – and a person who is called to fight for people who need protection from those who would destroy their human rights. Many voices are still needed to protect the vulnerable, the children and society at large..
I think that I can speak from experience, as I’ve been on this good road for over 50 years now, and have talked to – and sometimes worked with -people from different nations. That is, Native nations here in the USA and Canada, Europe and Japan.. their educated as well as intuitive wisdom and years of experience has changed my life.