Crossing Nebraska

A monk presented himself to a Zen master. “I come seeking liberation,” he said. “Who has enchained you?” the Zen master replied. “No one,” answered the monk. “Then why seek liberation?” the master responded. This is one of those conversations in which a teacher provides a so-called “turning word” to a student, thereby clarifying their understanding and perhaps even nudging them toward realization. Merriam-Webster definition of word Yes, words can have great power. We might think we have a great problem (needing liberation, for instance) only to suddenly realize that the problem doesn’t really exist at all. We only think we have a problem. Many people consider themselves “broken” these days and in need of “healing.” Sometimes, though, it’s only a matter of being stressed from the busyness and chaos of contemporary life. Nonetheless, they seek out “cures” and “healing practices” which, in reality, are merely rest and relaxation. On the other hand, there are those who’ve experienced d...

Wouldn’t it be great if the wisest among us were the ones in power? Sadly, though, that’s not the case. And wouldn’t it be great if the wisest among us were also the ones with the strongest will? Then the will to power would be informed by deep and reflective wisdom. But that’s not the case either. There appears to be no positive correlation between wisdom and strength of will, and the correlation may even be a negative one. In fact, if Socrates was correct, and "the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing,” then the wisest among us may deem themselves unworthy of leading! Edward Crawford throws a teargas canister shot by police at Black Lives Matter  protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. Crawford was later found dead under suspicious circumstances that may have been homicide or may have been suicide. Might this explain the federal government we presently have in the United States? We seem to now be led by the stupidest of individuals who are cocksure of themselves and a...

“A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” Supposedly Twain said this, or maybe it was Churchill, or perhaps neither. Maybe it’s simply a truism passed down in various forms since who knows when. The Quote Investigator notes that, before Twain or Churchill were even born, Jonathan Swift is known to have said in 1710 that “falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.” Yes, lies seem to have a certain power all their own. A truth meter Our POTUS and his supporters have harnessed this very human reality to great effect. No amount of fact-checking, countervailing arguments, outraged responses, shame, or, um…, truth seems to make any difference. Lies work. Lies sway opinion. Lies help their unethical, unscrupulous, and immoral purveyors to gain and maintain power. Keep in mind, though, that the real power of lies resides in the frequency with which they are told. A single lie might not be so difficult to rebut. Multiple lies, however, tol...

If you’re inclined to believe in evil as a supernatural force that’s been unleashed upon this world, you’ll not have to look very hard. Everywhere we look these days we see evidence of its existence: self-serving executive leadership that appears constitutionally incapable of telling the truth, that uses the levers of power to reward friends and punish political foes instead of improving peoples’ lives, that celebrates people losing their jobs, healthcare, and food assistance; a government that enables and empowers such leadership contrary to our constitution and the needs of the people, that allows the murder of children to continue in mass shooting after mass shooting, that revels in the suffering and abuse of immigrants at the hands of masked agents seemingly accountable to no one; and a populace that cheers all this on, perhaps even engaging in violent action to take their leaders’ talking points to their suggestive conclusions or, at the very least, enabling the whole evil mess wi...

We’ve entered a new season of gun violence of late. Each time a mass shooting takes place, we now rush to read the tea leaves for evidence of the shooter being from the Left or Right. And each time a shooter is found to have been politically motivated in some way, those on the other side stand ready with narratives prepared. And, oh, how the disingenuous self-righteousness then oozes forth! In fact, violence is committed by individuals all along the political spectrum. It serves no productive purpose to pretend otherwise. However, it’s also a fact that the majority of politically motivated murders committed in the U.S. are perpetrated by right-wing idealogues. It’s not even close. There are five right-wing motivated murders to every left-wing one . And, no, that’s not coming from some left-wing source. Those statistics were compiled by the right-leaning Cato Institute . Regardless, it doesn’t do any of us any good to dive into our respective narrative thickets each time a shooting ta...

The very public murder of Charlie Kirk earlier this month as he engaged in debate on a college campus has shocked our nation’s conscience and thrust us into a meta-debate of sorts over the nature of free speech and our responsibility to be both truthful and civil. One popular late-night television host was suspended for allegedly inaccurate and irresponsible musings as to the motives of the shooter. Others have reportedly already lost their jobs for making comments deemed either too celebratory or too dismissive of Kirk’s fate. Even members of the military are being suspended for the content of their social media posts. Suddenly, a great deal rides on the subtle tone of our words, which is odd given that truthfulness and civility have been so absent from public discourse over the course of this past decade. No. YOU'RE the violent one! Yes, if only the debate over truthfulness and civility were an honest one. It used to be that folks on the right of the political spectrum decried ...

We don’t stop loving a family member who falls ill with a life-threatening disease. No, we show our love even more in their time of need, even though we may loathe the disease which has beset them. Such is how I feel about our country at the present time. Even as I love it, I must recognize that it is sick with a culture of ignorance, delusion, cruelty, and violence. Rather than being a populace guided by shared values and principles, we’ve become a writhing snake pit of views with widely varying degrees of connection to reality. Are vaccines good or bad? We can’t agree. Are our elections fair or not? We can’t agree. Should gun control laws be strengthened or thrown out altogether? Should we have separation of church and state? We can’t agree. Should we have meaningful checks and balances amongst our three branches of government, or does the executive branch wield overarching power? Should people in positions of power be chosen for their subject matter expertise or for their ideologi...