August 21 Plus ca change...

Sunrise Over Berlin photo by Hanson59

The other night I woke up in the middle of the night with the feeling of impending doom. I didn't go to bed with it, it came upon me in the night. It felt like a sudden serious case of depression complete with uncontrollable crying and hopelessness. I tried for a couple of hours to get back to sleep. But, as usual, my mind had other plans. It wanted to review in sordid detail the subject of my despair. This matter happens not to be personal but communal so to speak. I was utterly distraught over the state of discourse on national health care reform. This sounds funny, but it is not. If you have been alive in America for the last month you know the scene. The vitriolic, mean-spirited, contentious and down-right evil nature of the health care debate has unnerved me. I know that it is fueled by professional lobbyists, the hired guns of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies who want to keep their profits coming no matter what the cost to the American people. Their lies are spouted by Fox News, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbough, and especially on the Internet. But, excuse me, does that mean that so many people have to believe them? Why can't people choose to act in their own best interest? Are we as a nation really that stupid? These are of course rhetorical questions from the middle of the night.

I laid in bed and longed for a nation where we could have reasoned debate. There are plenty of real reasons to criticize the proposed health care bills. Why do we have to be side-tracked by ridiculous lies about the bill allowing the government to kill your grandmother, leave veterans without care, stand between you and your doctor and then get into your bank account? I might be extra sensitive to this craziness since I live in a place where my neighbors make copies of these lies from the Internet and pass them out to the community just in case we haven't heard them on Fox News or The Rush Limbaugh Show.

The morning after my sleepless night I read the Daily Lectionary from the Episcopal Church as has been my practice for the last six months or so. These are daily Bible readings chosen for each day of the year. Since I have never been a Bible reader, I am learning a lot. On that bleary eyed morning after my sleepless night the designated Old Testament reading was Psalm 140. It was supposedly prayed by King David. But don't you think it would be a perfect prayer for Barack Obama right now?

Psalm 140
To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from those who are violent,
2 who plan evil things in their minds
and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,
and under their lips is the venom of vipers.
Selah

4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent
who have planned my downfall.
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net;*
along the road they have set snares for me.
Selah

6 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God;
give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.’
7 O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their evil plot.*
Selah

9 Those who surround me lift up their heads;*
let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let burning coals fall on them!
Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!
11 Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil speedily hunt down the violent!

12 I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,
and executes justice for the poor.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
the upright shall live in your presence.

New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989

Maybe we could leave out the part about "Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!", but it is a satisfying mental image, I must admit. The French have a saying that seems to apply to this health care reform fiasco as well as to many other situations especially in politics, "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" (The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.) We could just leave it at that. Just say along with at least half the country, "Whatever". Right now the debate on health care is so vicious and mean that I feel like giving up. That seems like the sanest response. However, not being completely sane, I just wrote another letter to the editor and I am planning to go to one more rally in support of the public option for health care, carry my sign, "Do the Right Thing, Health Care for Everyone!", and hope that someone doesn't hit me.

Acknowledging the light of a new day, I have started to think about alternatives to the contentiousness that has infected our country. Perhaps teaching young people the arts of mediation and listening to others might be the most radical thing we can do right now. There are already some good people doing this and lots of helpful resources. Check out one great program here. God knows it is needed. I can begin to see a glimmer of hope for civil decision making in the US in the future. If we worked really hard maybe we could even prove the French wrong for once. That would be satisfying. Just say No! to "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" we could say. America finally joined the rest of the developed world and found a way to provide health care for all her people! It's amazing how things look a little brighter after the sun comes up.