Here Comes the Sun, a review

Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization

By Bill McKibben

This new book is an insightful and wholistic look at our planet’s climate crisis and the innovations in solar and wind energy to transform our energy needs and abilities to reduce carbon emissions. In this well-written, fast paced and instructive book, the reader is well-informed on economic forces, technology, and innovative approaches to greatly reduce our dependency on petroleum and replace it with cheap, available solar and wind power resources.

McKibben is well informed and does both his field work and his conversations with a wide range of experts and leaders in progressive thinking, as well as sharing “boots on the ground” experiences with people from all over the world. He offers insights, and suggestions for changing our thinking and our utilization of energy sources, with a great deal of common sense. He makes this exploration fascinating, and challenges us to approach energy resources and climate change with new approaches and fresh applications of science and technology.

The reader gains insight and a sense of hopefulness, with the book being a positive approach to difficult challenges and crisis management. I learned a lot and came away with greater understanding of our challenges and our abilities to take on and solve challenging problems.

As Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate, says, “Trust Bill McKibben to find light in the darkness – and oh what a light it is. This is the energizing vision and game plan so many of us have been waiting for, and of course it comes from one of our era’s most imaginative and trusted voices.”

—Neal Lemery

Making Things Better

By Neal Lemery

(published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 2/5/2025)

I’ve always heard that we are here to make things better. That is our ultimate purpose, and that we do that work with love, compassion, and focus. Whatever else we are doing in our life, at the end of the day, life should be better for others, for our community, and, sometimes, for ourselves.

We are here to serve others. Our own comfort, our own advancement, our own betterment is not as important as being of help to others. When I was growing up, that was a strong lesson in religion, in being in community, and in our own personal work in learning how to be productive in our lives. At the dinner table, I was always asked, “Did you make a difference today?”

That work was expected to be a primary focus in our family lives, our careers, and in becoming productive adults. We were expected to help others along the way, and help them on that road to serving the community, and in growing and advancing all of us as we moved into adulthood. I also frequently asked myself that question. That personal inquiry continues today.

Seth’s Blog, written by author and social commentator Seth Godin, took a deep dive into this subject a number of years ago, digging into the ideas of “better” and “making”:

“1. Better implies that what we have right now is imperfect. Better requires change, and change is scary. Better might be in the eye of the beholder. Better is an assertion, one that requires not just the confidence to say it, but the optimism to believe that it’s possible.

“2. Make implies that it’s up to us. Someone needs to make it better, and it might just be you. In fact, if you don’t enlist to produce better, you’re part of the status quo, which is a problem.

“I’ve seen that there are pockets of our culture where both of these ideas are difficult to embrace. That authority pushes us to fit in, not to seek improvement, and deniability encourages us to whine instead of doing something about it. Power enjoys passivity in others.

“Power doesn’t want you to get uppity, doesn’t enjoy your dissatisfaction, doesn’t want to be on the hook to continually upgrade all of its systems. And so power has sold a cultural norm of acceptance, deniability and ennui.”

I get complacent in life, finding myself stuck in my routine, accepting the status quo, going along with what most other people seem to think, and what they want in life. There’s that “oh, well” thinking, that I’ll just accept what’s happening and forget that I can be a strong and vocal instrument of change, that I can make a difference and change things up. Just me. Just one person. I don’t have to accept what I think “everyone else” is thinking.

There’s no shortage of opportunities now. Local volunteer opportunities and job possibilities offer much in doing things that truly make a difference in the lives of our neighbors and our community. That work also strengthens each of us, improving our skills, and connecting us deeper with our own abilities and talents, as well as responding to the needs of others. Just look around; the possibilities, as it is often said, are endless.

Life gives us the opportunity to be independent thinkers, to have our own ideas, to do our own research, our own analysis. And, to speak out. If we listen, we hear that call to be brave and forthright, to have our own opinions, and, at times, to disagree with others. And, to do the work that needs to be done. And, as John Lewis said, to “do good trouble”.

That kind of thinking can be radical, disquieting. But I can step out of the norm, out of complacency, and to be one of those folks who stirs the pot, who thinks differently, who takes action when it seems others fear to tread.

I don’t have to look too far for that kind of inspiration and guidance. Most of my ancestors took chances, braved new worlds, and embraced changing their lives and their circumstances. They were all immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, who crossed oceans, traveled to new and challenging places, and reformed their lives. They embraced the idea of bettering their lives. And, in doing so, to take on some hardships and challenges, striving to realize the benefits of hard work and personal sacrifice.

As Seth writes, “I’ll reiterate my belief that we each have a chance to assert. To announce our vision, to propose a change, to do the hard work to make things better.

“It’s on us, right now. Make things better by making better things.”

—Seth’s Blog 4/17/19

2/4/2025

Leading With Integrity

By Neal Lemery

(published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 1//9/2025)

This community’s latest lesson in morality and integrity has come from members of the Tillamook High School girls varsity basketball team, who expressed their views and outrage on their athletic experience and coaching. On their own, they spoke out and gave word to their concerns, giving us a lesson in sportsmanship, athletic integrity and personal courage. Such lessons often come from our youth, who have been observant students in our community’s lessons on doing the right thing.

They are being courageous, and living their values. They are stepping out of their comfort zone and taking a stand. I’d argue they are doing what they should be doing in that work, being congruent with how they should be living their life, how they should be acting as citizens, as the next generation of moral leaders, of living an ethical and purposeful life.

Some may disagree about the facts, or how to respond. But, the issues have been raised, and we are all challenged to respond, and to weigh our own moral and ethical actions. By raising these concerns and asking these questions, these young athletes have shown their courage and their integrity. They are leaders and I thank them for taking these concerns head on. I’m proud of those kids.

This is a good time to be asking those questions of morality and justice. Those are the questions we as a community need to be asking, need to be discussing. Are we doing the right thing? Are we teaching others to lead, to be honest, open, to be people of character and integrity? Do we truly grasp the essential purpose of having an athletic program?

They have given us much to ponder, and deserve our thanks for putting this issue on the community table. Such questioning is truly one of the fruits of the spirit and purpose of athletics.

How do we teach these invaluable values? How do we parent, coach, lead and thereby pass on our sense of integrity, morality, and sense of seeking justice and mutual respect. These students have raised those questions, and have caused us to think. How do we respond?

Listening to Jimmy Carter’s grandson eulogizing him at the National Cathedral this week, I was reminded of the importance of being present, of parenting, teaching and doing all that with honesty and integrity.

Jimmy Carter did that around the dinner table, at the fishing hole, and in the woodshop as he gave leadership and imparted his values to his grandson. The grandson listened, learned, and internalized that. This week, he put that education to use, sharing it to the nation, and spoke his truth to our political leaders and a country seeking to deal with memories and legacy of a president, and a man who lived his faith and values in the world.

Jimmy Carter made a difference and, in this time of political and social turmoil and instability, I’m wondering what we’ve been missing, what do we need to learn again. I’m looking for that moral compass, and social standards. I’m looking for leadership.

Looking back on how I’ve helped raise my sons, I keep wondering and evaluating what I did right, and what I did wrong, what I missed out on. I’m realizing that the real magic, the real work happened not when I was in my lecturing mode, wearing my disciplinarian hat, my “tough father” attitude. What really worked was teaching by example, the telling of my day around the dinner table, how I dealt with some ethical dilemmas and conflicts, how I lived my life, where the rubber meets the road. In those times, the real learning, the real imparting of parental wisdom and guidance occurred. That’s when I was really doing the work of preparing young men for a healthy and fulfilling manhood. I was growing, too, and shared my own growing pains with my sons.

It was perhaps the best moments while we were in the car, where we weren’t “dealing with issues”, but just being friends on an adventure. It was the time when one of their friends also sat at the table, and we were having a casual conversation, or when I was helping them with some homework, or offering them a safe place to spend the night, or sharing a funny story.

Kids today are under a lot of pressure. Social media and the speed of technology has robbed all of us of those quiet, uncluttered moments together, when we aren’t compelled to be busy, to deal with multiple tasks, or cope with the pressure of bullying, peer pressure, the need to conform and “fit in”. When I was a kid, some of the best times were simply lying on the grass, looking up at the sky, watching the clouds, and just being in the moment. I don’t see kids doing that much now. They’re busy responding to a lot of stimulation, and trying to fulfill the expectations of others to conform, to fit in, to excel at something.

But, I also see kids taking back those quiet moments, to standing up for their own values and ethics, to staking out a position on important issues, and structuring their lives so they can build their own morality, and occupy the higher ground of moral integrity. The girls basketball team is a prime example. Recent news stories on the national and the local level are often the stories of personal integrity and taking moral stands.

I’ll argue that most of us want to live like Jimmy Carter’s grandson did, having a grandfather who talked and lived a moral life, a life of integrity and purpose. I could often disagree with some of President Carter’s political decisions, but I couldn’t discount that he acted with what he thought was a sense of morality and faith, that his decisions were based on what he thought was right, right for himself, and right for the country.

I suspect his grandson disagreed with him sometimes, too, and that they had heartfelt and deep conversations about what was right, what made sense for everyone involved. I had those conversation with my sons, too. We’d often disagree, with my sons often quick to point out the flaws in my arguments, with my actions. It was a healthy debate, and I could see my sons sharpen their wits, solidify and sometimes, change their viewpoints. The frosting on the cake was when I saw them have similar discussions with their friends. I would see my sons leading the educational moment, and instilling in their friends a stronger sense of morality and justice, and a sense of respect.

What are we teaching our kids today, and what should we be teaching them? What do we show them by example, what are the values that we are showing them as they grow into adulthood? In doing that, are we making our world a better place, are we training good leaders?

Are we teaching our kids to be like Jimmy Carter’s grandson, who can stand at the podium of the National Cathedral, before the President and all the living ex-presidents, and the entire nation, and speak about moral values, character, integrity, and living lives that make a difference in this world?

It comes back to each of us, a challenge to be the teacher, the example, to encourage others to examine their morality, their ethics, and to do the right thing, to be like the Tillamook High School’s girls varsity basketball team.

1/9/2025

Special Moments With Jim

published in the Tillamook County Pioneer

by Neal Lemery

Last week, I learned that a good college friend had passed away. He wasn’t a particularly close friend in the usual ways with college friends. We did not often keep in touch, like many friends from our past. We’d run into each other at gatherings every several years. Now I realize he was a mentor and a counselor to me, roles that were much different than the usual college classmate ways.

He had a deep impact on me in college. Jim was a sensitive guy, and instinctively knew when someone was emotionally vulnerable and hurting.

I was one of the guys Jim felt that with, and he reached out to me several times, the darkest of times. I kept my emotional life close to me, letting very few people know that I was hurting, that I needed some kindness and some compassion. Young men in our culture don’t want to appear vulnerable. American men are skilled at building walls and keeping our self-doubts and fears well hidden. Such wall building is what is expected of real American men, and of course I was expected to fit in. It’s the manly thing to do.

Jim was different. He had that ability to sense my pain, and would pull me aside, find a quiet corner and look deep into my soul.

He had that way about him, that instant trust and insight to pull out of me the dark thoughts, the self-doubts, the emotional pain that I thought I had been so clever in hiding from everyone, including myself. He could open me up and he would listen, deeply and without judgment.

Jim would normalize my feelings and give words to what I was wrestling with, repeating my fears and doubts so that I could hear what I was thinking and fearing, that I was not really crazy or on the edge of going nuts, that I was a human being who needed some compassion and friendship. I admired all of that in him, and I wanted to be much more like him, his vulnerability and his confidence in being a trustworthy and helpful man.

He had that gift, and I often saw him use his skills and his humanity to help others, to guide people into self-understanding and to find their passions and place in adult life. Not one to seek adulation, he did this work quietly, always protecting privacy and avoiding gossip. He was a trust builder and a healer, and practiced his skills on the fringes of college life, places where the walking wounded would go to seek out anonymity.

Jim went on to do other great things in his life. An overseas study trip took him to the Middle East where he became involved in charity and economic development work. He returned to campus, to change his major to international business. He went back to the Middle East, where he devoted his life to economic development and helping the needy, making a profound difference in the lives of others, being the Good American in a region where that was a rarity. He did well, because he was kind and charitable, because people could trust him, and because he lived what he believed about people.

We didn’t need to be in regular communication with each other, or meet at all the reunions. I knew Jim would be there for me if I needed him, and that he was still having his “Jim Moments” with people on the other side of the world.

I found myself following his example in my own work, reaching out and engaging people in their dark moments, having those quiet conversations and going deep into their emotional lives, offering respect and cultivating compassion and mutual positive regard. And in that work, I found the blessings that such work gives a person, the rewards of making a difference, by being a kindly, truthworthy friend and an advocate for decency and understanding.

In such moments, I’d chuckle to myself, realizing I was following Jim’s footsteps, that I was in the middle of a “Jim Moment”, that his teachings to me had been a profound and vital lesson, one of the most important lessons I’d learned in college. I’d ask myself, “What would Jim do?” in this situation. That would open the door for some productive conversations and effective steps forward.

I’m mourning Jim’s death today, and wondering how best to remember him, to continue on with his legacy. I’m realizing it is in those “Jim Moments” that he came back to me, when I would again feel his big hugs of friendship and compassion. This world needs more of those “Jim Moments”, when we open our hearts to someone, to truly listen and suspend our judgments, when we are accepting and open to others’ pain, when we can practice empathy, and help develop a plan on moving forward.

Jim will live on in such kind acts, and in the bonds that are made with others in times of uncertainty, confusion and self-doubt. I’m comforted by knowing that, and, more importantly, by getting out into the world, being more aware, and carrying on with Jim’s mission, and his “Jim Moments”.

1/20/2023

My Ten Minute Rule

by Neal Lemery

(published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 5/27/2022

I try to live an organized, purposeful life, with some guiding principles and an action plan. My “to do” list should be close at hand, current and relevant. If I don’t keep myself organized and on track, at the end of the day, I feel lost and useless, adrift on my own sea of inaction and idleness.

We can easily get overwhelmed with too much information and too many demands on our time and energy. Distractions are everywhere, and I can find myself in “response mode” with depression and anxiety closing in rather than “take action and get something done”.

I strive to be an instrument of change. If I get caught up into the “news” and become mesmerized with the crisis of the hour, I become merely reactive, and I don’t get anything meaningful done. I can’t change the news, but I can change how I respond to it. I can change my world, my culture. I can make a real difference.

Today’s Seth’s Blog offers some insight in how each of us can be an instrument, an advocate for true cultural changes and shifts. While there are many good things about our society, the “news” tries to focus me on what isn’t working, what is “bad”, what agitates and stirs me up to feel impotent and angry. I want to reject that attitude and instead focus on what positive actions I can take to move ahead in this world and help move the world a better place and me a better citizen and human being.

“The people in the news and at the podium get all the attention, but they’re a symptom, not usually a cause. Everyday people aren’t the bottom, they are the roots, the foundation, the source of culture itself. We are the culture, and we change it or are changed by it.”

“From peer to peer

“Change happens horizontally. What do we expect from others? What do we talk about? Who do we emulate or follow or support? What becomes the regular kind?

“…

“But the people who are consistently and actively changing the culture are not easily distracted. One more small action, one more conversation, one more standard established.

“The internet would like us to focus on what happened five minutes ago. The culture understands that what happens in five years is what matters.

“Focused, persistent community action is how systems change. And systems concretize and enforce cultural norms.

“If you care, keep talking. Keep acting. Stay focused.” https://seths.blog

This week, I focused on self-care, and took myself to the “Mexican Modernists” exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. I’ve long been a fan of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, their art, and their passion for social change and activism. Their art was a strong and effective voice for the working class, and for social change during and after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), which heralded economic and political reform. Those times offer us a striking parallel to current events.

These artists gave voice to revolutionary social and economic ideas, and sparked a cultural reformation that engaged a generation of reform and rich conversations about the future of Mexican culture. Their influence spilled over to the USA, with Rivera’s public murals in our cities instigating controversy and debate about the power of the elite, the attributes of American culture, and indigenous people.

Their art, their advocacy, and their willingness to speak out on issues is a mirror to our society’s issues today, and gives us some effective roadmaps on what we can do to examine and reform the current culture and political climate of our own times. Yes, artists not only give voice to our culture, but also direction on what we can do as individuals to make the needed changes and to increase our own awareness of what we need.

For myself, I have my “ten minute rule”. I can do most anything for ten minutes in the day. Why not take that little snippet of time, a mere ten minutes, and do something that supports change and growth. It may be some moments of personal reflection and writing, or music making. It may be a rich conversation with a friend, or writing a supportive note on a card and dropping it in the mail. It may be doing some gardening or art making. It may be showing up in the community and doing some volunteer task that makes life better for others. It doesn’t have to be splashy or exotic, but over time, every day, that work, that attention adds up and starts to make a significant difference in our world. Just ten minutes.

My only criteria is that the task needs to attend to a long term impact on something that’s important in our culture. “Just show up” is the guiding rule for this work. Every day, like the Chinese proverb about how a steady, seemingly insignificant drop of water erodes the boulder, over time.

I sometimes call this work my “guerrilla social activist” work, doing something behind the scenes, and making a difference, instigating change. (5/27/2022)

Our Differences and the Coming Change

by Neal Lemery

published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 2/26/2022

We are emerging into new times, new opportunities. How are we going to take advantage of all of the possibilities?

The end of the pandemic restrictions is not going to be a return to normal, “the way it was”. So much has changed, and we are challenged to adapt, to take the lessons learned, and to move ahead into our changed society.

No longer is education only going to be based on in person learning. Many of our work environments now embrace working from home. We are adapting to a variety of virtual learning, work, and participatory experiences, allowing us to be productive in so many ways. We are no longer constrained by geography, but rather by our ability to take advantage of the many ways we can interact, to learn, and to produce value in our lives.

We have rediscovered the importance of personal relationships, and the value of social interactions at every level.

Children in my neighborhood joyfully interact in small groups, guided by parents and neighbors who have become experienced in the teaching arts. Educators are seen again as masters, gifted in the rearing of our kids. Students are able to access a variety of learning styles, and are discovering how they can better acquire and master the knowledge they need in this changing world.

Now, we cherish social interactions, and the benefit of collaboration and access to public health services. Health care has greatly advanced in the last several years, incorporating the principles of evidence-based research and the development of preventative measures, such as vaccines and universal access to new treatments and methodologies. We have been reminded of the benefits of access to quality health care.

We now plainly see the benefit of community-wide access to the internet, and how each child, each adult, benefits from both technology and one-on-one teaching.

“If there is going to be change, real change, it will have to work its way from the bottom up, from the people themselves. That’s how change happens.” — Howard Zinn.

We need to take advantage of all of these changes, and the challenges that have forced us to re-evaluate how we’ve managed in the past, and how we want to live in the future. It is up to us, from the grass roots up. My renewed interest, thanks to the pandemic, in gardening, baking, and in communicating one on one with friends and family on a deep level, has made me more connected, more involved, and more attentive to what really matters in my life, as well as the life of our community. I see technology as a tool to advance my humanity, and not the end result of my use of it.

We’ve learned that the social institutions and customs that really work, that really improve lives, deserve our attention and require our energies so that they can thrive. And, the old ways and institutions that don’t serve their purposes anymore, need to be left behind, making room for what does work, what really makes a difference.

We’ve learned that the personal touch, going the extra mile with someone, in an intimate and sensitive approach, is profoundly effective. There’s a rise in entrepreneurship and ingenuity. Creativity is blossoming and is finding room in our changing economy. In that, our true core values are being honored and advanced. Individual talents are being nurtured and admired. Quality family time is seen as essential to a happy life and a productive society.

We are now surrounded by lessons in collaboration. Our differing observations and opinions are really just different expressions of our many common values. Our vocal, often strident debates on what we think are fundamental differences, are really just conversations on how best to advance our common community values: the power of meaningful choices, the value of an individual’s contributions, that differing viewpoints can advance the common good, that a person’s individuality, their uniqueness, is a highly cherished asset to society.

We have more in common than our divergent, often strident, views. We’re learning the lessons of being good listeners, and learning from a different point of view. From those conversations, we can move closer to finding the truth, and taking action steps that truly address the problems we all face. We need to keep asking “what is the common good?”

If we look at our differences as a process of education and personal growth, and to truly strive for finding the truth in a choppy sea of propaganda and misinformation, we all can work towards improving society, and having respectful, meaningful debates. Each of us needs to be less attached to the idea that only I know the truth, only I am the holder of the correct answer. Then we can truly be lifelong learners and be part of the solutions, be an agent of positive change.

A healthy democracy requires that we take less ownership in what we think is the unbridled truth, and be willing to accept that there is more to learn, there is more to be discovered. And, perhaps, I can even admit that I don’t know all the answers, that the real truth is awaiting all of us in this journey. This awareness of the dangers of ego-based opinion holding is one of our big lessons from these challenging times. These are good lessons our kids need to learn from us.

Technological advancement is now being seen as not the end result of our labor, the “end all and be all” but as a toolbox to further our human values, our relationships, and as a way to provide even more opportunities for learning and happy lives. We are learning that technology is not our master, but our servant.

And the good change, the needed change, comes from each of us. We’ve all been in school these last two years, learning and relearning some of the basic lessons in life, and contemplating the wisdom of some of our beliefs and our institutions. If we act differently, then our lives can be changed, hopefully for the better.

We have learned that if we want things to be different now, we are the agents of change. We have to know where we want to go, what needs to be different. We need to do the work, and to make the changes that need to happen. It is up to us.

2/26/2022

Pruning Time

By Neal Lemery

(Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 1/26/2022

The recent sunny weather gave me good reasons to get outside and start my early spring pruning chores. That work includes a lot of social and personal pruning, as well as the work in the garden.

I have a long list, starting with eliminating some of the clutter and debris in my life, how the community can be improved, as well as taking a long look at the grapes that I had neglected to fully prune last year.

I’m motivated to sharpen my garden clippers, both literally and figuratively, because I’m seeing a lot of community pruning of our lives, our social institutions, and our daily work in these times of the pandemic. We are challenged by quarantines, other public health concerns and responding to economic challenges. Giving these community challenges a critical eye is a healthy step forward to improving our lives, and having a positive response to these challenging times.

“Here we are, and what are we going to do about it?”, a friend recently asked me.

The results of that pruning, that reorganization and revitalization are already apparent. Stagnant institutions are being revived, people are becoming more engaged, and new ideas are finding fertile ground. And, practices and attitudes that aren’t helping to improve our lives are being pruned away, to the betterment of all of us. Community life is on a rebound.

As a gardener, I know that pruning away the dead, the diseased and the overlapping branches of plants improves their health, and stimulates them to be more vibrant, more productive plants. Pruning opens up a plant for more exposure to the sun, and is a proven way to invigorate older plants. I’ve recently learned that when I’m planting a shrub or tree, I should be also pruning the roots, which stimulates the plant and ensures its success in its new surroundings.

Such practices should be applied to our work in the community.

“In nature, every plant eventually is pruned in some manner. It may be a simple matter of low branches being shaded by higher ones resulting in the formation of a collar around the base of the branch restricting the flow of moisture and nutrients. Eventually the leaves wither and die and the branch then drops off in a high wind or storm. Often, tender new branches of small plants are broken off by wild animals in their quest for food. In the long run, a plant growing naturally assumes the shape that allows it to make the best use of light in a given location and climate. All one needs to do to appreciate a plant’s ability to adapt itself to a location is to walk into a wilderness and see the beauty of natural growing plants.” (Douglas Welch)

I’m trying to apply those gardening principles to my own life by exploring new ideas, cleaning out some old time-wasting and stale activities and projects in my life, and finding new ways to improve our community life. Like any pruning job, my personal and community pruning involves taking a hard look at the structure, having a plan of what things should look like when I’m done, and getting tough on eliminating disease and the superfluous, the stuff that gets in the way of vigorous and fertile growth.

The thoughtful gardener takes the long view of where one’s garden needs to be . By having a long term vision, and taking some bold steps with one’s clippers, as well as the occasional saw, transformation occurs. The needed change will soon produce obvious benefits, with the plant (and our community relationships) becoming healthier, more vibrant.

I struggle with change, and healthy pruning is one of the key tools we have to bring about needed growth in our relationships and our community. Recent stories in the Pioneer and other media tell of how people are instigating change and revitalizing our community. We are taking on new ways of how we work, go to school, raise our kids, and care for each other. These changes are the subjects of deep and sometimes hard conversations. Yet, changes are coming. Indeed, many of them are already here.

I look around, and see that I’m not the only one out in the yard with my clippers, pruning away the dead, the misshapen, the cluttered shrubs in the yard, and the parts of our social fabric that need revitalized. We gardeners are a persistent bunch, and recognize that pruning is an ever-present task on our to-do lists. We can have sometimes heated discussions on how we should tend our community gardens, our institutions, and how we interact with each other. Our commitment to positive change, to effective pruning, is one of our great strengths, an aspect of our lives that we should celebrate with enthusiasm.

In those conversations, we can all grow and change, and become better gardeners of our community and our lives.

Examining Our Strengths and Weaknesses

by Neal Lemery

“Whenever we come together to share strengths it breeds competition; whenever we come together sharing our weaknesses, it breeds community.” — Anonymous^[1]

We live in divisive times. If one spends much time “catching up” on news or social media, or talking about politics and social trends with one’s friends, the common theme seems to focus on our divisions, our differences, and winning some argument or political event. We like to boast about our strengths and hide our weaknesses.

But life isn’t about winning or losing, or “us vs them”. Our sporting events, which we support because we want something fun and wholesome for ourselves and our kids, often is analyzed in terms of win/lose. We like to measure strength and power. We keep score, and often that seems to be the primary reason for the activity and our attention we pay to it. Even the supposedly non-partisan, individually focused “pure sport” Olympic Games are reported complete with scorecards of national medal awards.

Discussions and viewpoints on political and social issues are often laced with mean comments and foul language, often thinly disguised with code words. We are encouraged to laugh with comedians who can make the most acidic standup routines, which we still refer to as comedy.

Informed and well-reasoned political conversation and a willingness to look at another point of view often is not on most of our social agendas for the day. Some politicians seem to want to advance their careers by acting with meanness and spite. They act as destroyers, not leaders of social advancement.

If everyone is now keeping score and arguing only for the sake of arguing, rather that persuading or informing, what is the grand prize? What are we attempting to gain? Is there a national championship for the loudest, most shrill argument? Are there extra points to be gained for sheer meanness? Does the winner get invited to the White House and be able to scream their point of view to a national audience? Or have I missed the news of a parade down Broadway, with a tickertape parade of nasty vitriolic social media posts?

Such tactics don’t change anyone’s opinion, and, I suggest, not much learning occurs, nor do we advance the common welfare.

The gentle, collaborative model of social life is more fruitful. I do see a new feeling of cooperation, of coming together to advance both individual and social goodness. I see volunteers everywhere, building up people, providing educational opportunities. There are small flickers of great and unselfish actions.

My neighborhood now has several “educational pods” where parents and friends are providing private schooling for kids of all ages. There is laughter and enthusiasm, and the occasional gaggle of kids out for a jog between classes, satisfying their P.E. requirements for the day. Families are deeply involved in their kids’ education, with small classes and individual attention, coupled with virtual learning, allowing kids to benefit from a variety of learning styles and curriculum.

Small businesses are experimenting with a wide range of business models, and many workers are working from home, either part or full time, allowing them to be productive and have quality time with family, without the expense and exhaustion of a long commute to work. There is serious discussion about the role of our traditional routines of work and career models.

Virtual learning isn’t for all situations, but it has found a place in my life, allowing me to participate in and dabble in a variety of activities and experiences. I’ve been able to benefit from a rich selection of broadcasted art performances and educational presentations. We still need the in person connections and the “juice” of one on one conversations and socializing, but there are some welcome advantages to this post-pandemic world.

The world now has amazing tools for communication and improving our lives. Miraculous innovations and discoveries are commonplace. We can accomplish so many tasks. Yet, humanity’s hunger for power, wealth, and status slows our efforts to improve the lives of all. Why we allow that to occur is an urgent question for all of us.

I suggest this paradox between what we can accomplish and what is done is essentially an ethical and spiritual challenge. What is humankind’s purpose? What are we alive to do?

In that quest, that work to answer these deep questions challenges our approaches to achieving a meaningful future. Coming together to take on our weaknesses builds our community.

11/11/2021

^[1] anonymous, quoted by Dave Barnes, interview with Dave Hollis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V49YuvWN79Y

published in the Tillamook County Pioneer

Teachings From the Pandemic

by Neal Lemery

This last year and a half has been chock full of lessons and experiences, forcing us to adapt, often reluctantly, to changes in how we live, be with family, work, celebrate social life and participate in the experiences we are used to having.

I’m often reluctant to accept change, let alone welcome it with the sense that our lives will be better. I like my routines, but the Pandemic has pushed me way out of my comfort zone.

Now that the vaccines are here, and many of our cherished patterns and activities are returning to our lives, in altered forms, we are still not “back to normal”. We now are adapting to new routines.

“The New Normal” can be liberating. Those activities and obligations we often didn’t enjoy much can be substituted with new approaches to living our lives. Virtual meetings and classes can often be more convenient and efficient than in-person gatherings. In some ways, participating in government is simplified, by clicking on a link and interacting with legislators and other government agencies.

Now, I realize it’s possible to talk with health care providers and other professionals without the need to travel. The experience may not be ideal, but most of our interactions are productive, and certainly time efficient.

Conversations with family and friends are a more welcoming experience. The last few months have allowed us to travel and again be physically present with others, teaching me that a big part of my social life is physical connection.

We have been learning that much of our society’s work can be handled remotely, that where we live has enormous value to our wellbeing and sense of purpose. We look at the value of personal services and professional interactions really are essential, and that every job is important.

Each day is a new opportunity. The ancient Greeks recognized that:

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” —- Heraclitus

An old song teaches that we can persevere and change is coming:

“…

“Oh, there been times that I thought
I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able, to carry on

“It’s been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come
Oh, yes it will.”

“A Change is Gonna Come”. Sam Cooke

Throughout the ages, change comes. We grow and adapt, because we should. And if we don’t, we stagnate, we rust, and decay. Life is like that, pushing us forward, into the new.

I’m often grateful for the changes and the resulting need for me to stretch and learn. The old, tried and true ways can become stale, and I weaken if I am not challenged. There’s enough “unexpected” that happens in life that ensures that life doesn’t get old and boring.

We have opportunities now that didn’t exist before. Let’s discard what hasn’t worked and embrace what now does work, for the good of all of us.

6/15/2021

Calling For a Change

–by Neal Lemery

2021 is a year of change, of awareness, and a time to reconcile ourselves with our attitudes and prejudices. At the core of this work is confronting our own racism and the racism of our culture. A re-examination of our history and our culture is revealing our prejudices, our privilege, and a compelling drive to change how we think and how we act.

The verdict this week in Minneapolis has hopefully gotten our attention to these issues, and has put a bright spotlight on the issues of racism, law enforcement, and cultural expectations. It is an ugly sore to open up and drain. The infection is deep. Our attitudes and opinions are facing the light of day, of public scrutiny, and of thoughtful self-examination.

Sadly, this tragedy isn’t the latest, and stories of similar injustices and responses continue to occupy the headlines. Recent attention to our country’s history shows a long and deep saga of similar outrages and, at times, calls for reform and change. The lessons of history are still there, as opportunities to learn and to cause change.

Those of us who aspire to be people of faith and advancing a spirituality based on compassion and good deeds are wrestling with being engaged in a society that too often does not aspire to those values. It is often too easy to do nothing, and instead to merely pontificate our aspirations to be good and kindly people. Denial seems easy, and the least stony path. Change is hard.

“Walking away from something that we’re used to, even if it’s unjust or inefficient or ineffective–it usually takes far too long. Fear, momentum and the status quo combine to keep us stuck.

“And so it builds up. The cruft [junk work product] calcifies and it gets in our way, making our world smaller, our interactions less human. What used to be normal is rejected and obsolete. It turns out that the status quo is the status quo because it’s good at sticking around.”

–Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog 4/21/2021

We all want to think that we come from good families, that we had a decent childhood, and that we have grown up to be good hearted, loving people, who are working to build a better society and to do noble and important work. Yet if I want to change society, I also need to change myself, and to examine myself so that I can truly become an agent of my good values and my talents to do the Godly and charitable work that I aspire to advocate.

To not do that self-examination is to be hypocritical and untrue to my highest goals and aspirations as a “good person”. My own spiritual challenge is to understand that me acting as an instrument of change is one of my purposes as a human being on this earth. A friend calls that being an instrument of God.

As Gandhi urged us, we need to be the change we want to see in the world. And, that starts with self-examination. It is ugly, often dirty work. Each of us had a seat in that courtroom in Minneapolis. Part of what was on trial was a criminal justice system and a culture of how law enforcement officers respond to an encounter with a man, situations where a person’s race and very presence on the street were factors in how a police officer acted. Our culture of prejudice, discrimination, and bias (even unconscious) was deeply interwoven in that incident and how a cop, and everyone else who was present, responded. The scope of responsibility and accountability for George Floyd’s death casts a wide net.

My great uncle was a member of the Klan, and proudly rode his horse in Klan parades in our family’s hometown. I heard stories of racial and ethnic prejudice from family and friends, and witnessed bigotry and prejudice, often subtle and minimalized. Like all of us, I witnessed bigotry and prejudice, and felt the social pressure to sustain those attitudes.

We all learned the “code words”, the vocabulary for this thinking. The disease was labeled something else, throughout my life, ever-present yet often cleverly disguised, or covered up. After all, racism was something that occurred in the South, or the big cities, somewhere else. Not here, not in my town, my neighborhood, my family.

That denial is also part of the disease, the “stinking thinking” that nurtures racism.

Those experiences are also present-day. Perhaps they are more subtle, even disguised, conveniently wrapped in the camouflage of politics and “free speech”. And, pretending that cultural and personal prejudice and intolerance isn’t here and now is simply being a cultural ostrich, naively hoping that these tough issues will simply go away. They won’t, until we do our tough work, and change.

We need to tell our stories. We need to air out the ugly anecdotes, and look at our own attitudes and beliefs, looking deep within ourselves to learn why we believe and think what we do. We need to embrace education and deep conversations with family and friends, no matter how uncomfortable those conversations can be. We can change, and we can grow. That is what good citizens and spiritually-minded people do.

Tomorrow can be different.

4/22/2021