Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 11
“Let Freedom Ring” from the song “My Country Tis of Thee” seems to continue to elude fulfillment, is a casualty of the war between the races, is the epitome of “Ghosting God”. Whether it is Hegseth obfuscating truth behind attacks, Trump talking about his “big beautiful ballroom”, he and his kids making billions on the different poly markets, deals, Kushner and Wytkoff using their ‘peacemaking’ opportunities to actually conduct business deals, the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act, AND claiming to “love America”, “put America First”, and other such bullshit is RIDICULOUS! Yet, too many of we the people keep buying the bullshit, blinding ourselves to the truth, and supporting assholes who care NOTHING for the welfare of We the People! WHAT THE FUCK?
I know, I keep screaming in my blogs, I keep using Capital Letters, etc and it is because I am incredulous at the instances of these subtle and not-so-subtle ways of Ghosting God, of Ghosting our authentic Self. Some 37years ago, Rabbi Jonathan Omer-man taught me that there can be no freedom without God, anything else is just “liberty”, the ability to do what one wants to do without the accountability to God, to another human being, a power greater than ourselves. He liken this phenomenon to the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai-from slavery to being liberated(liberty) to being free once we accepted the 10 Sayings, the Bible as our blueprint for living well. We are not witnessing Freedom in this moment, we are witnessing the practice of “liberty”, ‘doing what I want and lets see you stop me’ attitude of Trump, the Republican Party, Netanyahu, Putin, et al.
“I do believe that we shall overcome some day” is more than a protest song, it comes from the Gospel song tradition and is a statement that just as the Israelites were freed from Egypt by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, so too will (fill in the blank) be freed from the slavery of the white man! This is the war that no one is talking about, this is the war that keeps being swept under the rug, it is NOT just a black person’s war, history has shown us that when the Jews were targeted, so were another minority group, when blacks were targeted so were the Chinese, the Jews are a target of the KKK, the Aryan Brotherhood, etc don’t forget. I am TIRED of listening to the same old rhetoric, I am tired of hearing the promises over and over again of the liars and cheaters, the power-hungry wannabe dictators, and I am EVEN MORE TIRED of the lunatics who keep believing these lies from Lindbergh to Coughlin, from McCarthy to Nixon, from Reagan to Gingrich, from the Tea Party to Trump. “WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN” as Pete Seeger asks?
There can be no freedom without accepting God, without acknowledging that there is a power greater than ourselves, that we the people are accountable, that we the people owe a debt to society, to God. This debt is to BE HUMAN, to BE AUTHENTIC, to BE a LEARNER, to BE a member of a community. This debt speaks to the heart of how society has accepted the betrayal of those who have helped us get to where we and, when we no longer “need them to get ahead”, we just jettison them and ghost them. Ghosting has become such a normalized action it is now a societal norm and we the people have become oblivious to this fact. The person who complains about being ghosted is looked as if they are stupid, ‘what did you expect’ is the common refrain. There is no surprise that Trump, Bibi, Putin, Kushner, et al seek power and control, the true surprise is, after all this time, after all these examples of what happens when we the people allow these types of assholes to be in charge that WE THE PEOPLE STILL GO ALONG TO GET ALONG!!
Hence the need to return to the Prophets, to return to their teachings, the teachings of Jesus, the teachings of the Bible. There can be no freedom without God, without living into the Holiness Code, loving the stranger, caring for the poor and the needy, proclaiming FREEDOM throughout the land and to ALL ITS INHABITANTS THEREIN! I bold these words to ensure that we hear the call of the Bible, the message of Jesus, the words of the prophets loud and clear. To do this, We the People have to end our Ghosting of Self, Ghosting of God!
ACTION STEPS:
Each evening make a list of how you have repaid at least some of the debt owed to God by caring for another human being
Each evening make a list of how you were self-serving and self-seeking, adding to the debt owed.
Make a list of the ways you “let freedom ring” in your daily actions
Make a list of what you have learned about being free from today’s actions
Make a list of the ways you BE HUMAN each day
GOD BLESS and Stop Ghosting God, Self, Rabbi Mark