Leadership

It is very a popular pastime to comment on President Obama’s leadership as a president. Mainly those comments are negative dwelling on what has not happened during his presidency. Those of us who were particularly excited about he being the first black president who seemed to have remarkable credentials and had read his book, The Medacity of Hope saw a man with excellent knowledge of the constitution and history of this country with a vision of what we could be as a nation. And it is true that the dreams his presidency promised have by in large not come to pass.

The question is why. No doubt Obama does not have the leadership skills of Franklin D. Roosevelt or others. But I wonder if he stood a chance at real leadership for our country. I think this for several reasons.

Most obvious is a do nothing congress that has been in existence throughout his presidency. To lead, others must follow. In his case he had a whole parcel of folk who had undue power to derail his agenda, the Tea Party. Folk who had as their number one agenda to oppose anything he did. And for a long time they have carried the day.

Now the leader of the Republicans, John Boehner, has played his role in the process as well, frequently caving in to the radical right and not being able to work for bipartisan solutions. I think he wanted to, but lacked the leadership skills and resolve to do so. Now, I think he is getting more backbone and is willing to move forward despite the radical right seeing that his party may go down the drain if he doesn’t. His recent work on the bipartisan budget bill reflects this. It doesn’t thrill me as it still caters to the rich at the expense of the middle class and poor, but it was movement.

Now we will look for his leadership on the following issues: unemployment insurance, the debt ceiling, the farm bill, the Employment No-Discrimination Act, and immigration. These are major pieces of legislation congress and the president face in the future and will speak loudly about their concern for the common good versus the powerful and wealthy lobby interests that currently dominate congress.

The other major leadership issue is the role and responsibilities of our citizens, the voters. Far too many folk are just too apathetic and uninformed to do anything but complain. But we are also seeing signs of a populist progressive movement getting involved in the political process. It remains to be seen if they can effectively challenge the rich and powerful.

Leadership is a curious thing. Can you lead a people who don’t want to be lead? I look at this from the standpoint of church leadership. In my tradition, which reflects our national political process, a congregation elects folk to run the local church (this carries over to all levels of the church but I will limit myself to the local church in this case.) Their responsibilities as elected leaders of the congregation was not to just reflect and mimic the desires of the congregational members with endless polls or giving ear to particular special interests. Their responsibility was to follow their own consciences and beliefs to do what they considered best for the church. That is the same thing congressional leaders are supposed to do, but are not doing today.

At our meetings I would encourage each of these elected leaders to share their ideas and thoughts equally. Every voice is important in group process and it is the responsibility of the leader of those groups to make sure all are heard and understood. Once an issue (there are very few major issues that take place in a church in a given year, 2 or 3 is usual despite folks fascination with minutia) was thoroughly discussed it would be time for a vote. I preferred consensus decisions but that is not always possible. I also then would ask if any member who was on the losing side of a vote, if they wanted their dissenting vote noted in the minutes. Sometimes, that would happen. I would feel sad when it did happen as I believed that as a group we were to present a united front even if things did not go according to our individual preferences. But some folk just are not team players and are subject to special interest groups. I believed then as I do that process was more important the product. How we reached a decision was more important than the decision itself, and I would put my full support in favor of that decision. For me, that is how I think leadership should work.

With that said, I do believe there are times when open dissent is important and should be made apparent. That is more the case in the political arena than a local church where there is more unanimity to begin with.

It is my prayer for this year and beyond that our President and our congressional leaders assume better leadership styles. I hope they listen to the inner moral centers and do what they believe is best for the common good of the country. I pray that they will be able to set aside antagonistic rhetoric and work for synergistic ideas to move our country forward. I pray that they will be the leaders that lead our country well and work towards a united front.

It is my hope for the future that the pendulum will swing back and the government will work for the common good rather than for special interests though appropriate governmental regulations, fair progressive tax codes, care for those not able to capture the American dream, affordable education that will enable us to be productive and informed voters, and an economic system that spreads the wealth equitably among citizens of this country.

Upstairs Downstairs: Cat Commentary

We’re happy that Downton Abby  has begun its new season on PBS. Reminds me of the earlier Upstairs Downstairs PBS series which also dealt with life among the upper crust, upstairs, and the servants downstairs.

Now that the cats are house cats rather than Shackteau cats (I miss them as I write in the Shackteau) we can identify more clearly with these programs. The cats, particularly Pawline and Patchtricia are primarily upstairs cats. They enjoy their beds, chairs, scratching posts and dine while looking out the patio doors at the snow covered bluffs landscape of our backyard. Their meals are prepared downstairs by the human servants and then brought upstairs and served to them. There is a definite class system in play here.

Lamont, on the other hand, seems to have and equal opportunity, classless mindset, at least when it comes to socializing. He is upstairs, downstairs, on furniture, under furniture, sliding on rugs, climbing the high reaches of anywhere in the house, toppler of Christmas trees and mixes in an occasional lapsit and catcher of human feet.

Class foot capture

Last night we had a forcible lapsit as I plunked him on my lap and clipped his paw nails. He was not very enthusiastic about this and squirmed mightily but the deed was done. In payback when we went to bed (the time of day when we’re allowed upstairs) Lamont snuggled in with me for most of the night (without occasionally sinking his claws in my posterior this time). I’m not sure if he was cold, being affectionate, or pleading his case that such nail nipping behavior not be repeated again. I think he has stopped jumping off the headboard onto Mewreen’s head to get down now, and just jumps on us especially if we sleep too long in the morning.

*  *  *

“You know, the household living is not at all bad,” remarked Patch sticking her nose out from under the bed in the upstairs patio room where she like to spend a good deal of private time.

“I agree,” replied Paw perched in the orange chair (now with a cat bed on it) that she has claimed as her particular domain. “This is a most pleasant room. It has a fine rug on which to lay as bask in the sun as it streams in through the patio doors. There is food and water at our beckoning. And, the litter boxes are not far away and the human servants have upgraded the litter.

Actually Patch has taken Paw's place here

“But sisters,” exclaimed Lamont, “you lie around here all day and miss the most fun parts of the house which are downstairs. Mewreen has a computer in her office as Meugh had one in his office in the Shackteau, that I can walk in front of and behind and generally distract her. There is even a closet there they thought they had shut, but I pried my way in; not much of interest. There are counters to jump on along with many many others things. It is filled with places to play and most of our toys are downstairs.”

“We know that Lamont,” replied Patch. “And, we, well particularly myself venture downstairs on occasion. In fact, we both do in the evening and at night when the humans are asleep and won’t bother us. We are just more private and shall I say more discerning than you. We like to keep the old protocols of class distinction in the mingling of species. We’re cats for heaven’s sake not dogs who drool all over their masters. We are cats, aristocratic cats who properly understand the human role in life is to serve us.”

Servant Doreen feeding the cats

“Indeed,” continued Paw. “It just does not appear seemly that you spend so much time with the unpaid help. We must keep up appearances and proper cat propriety.”

“You are just old fashioned cats,” retorted Lamont. “While it is true that the human ones are our servants, that does not mean we cannot treat them in a friendly manner. In fact, I think we get much better service from them because of my outgoing and class bridging behavior. They adore me and my fetching ways.”

“Yeah, and pretty soon they will teach you to fetch as their progeny have taught their cat Swirl to fetch,” said, Patch. “But I overstate myself; cousin Swirl actually likes chasing around the ponytail ties. It is good exercise and keeps his hunting reflexes sharp. It is good that he has trained his human servants Meg and Bob to toss them for him.”

“I we do care for and love our human servants just as much as you do Lamont,” continued Paw. “It is just that we are more reserved and respect cat human propriety.”

And with that they groomed themselves, each other and then took naps.

Judgment versus Lament

I may have written about this before but a few years ago when I was serving a church in a midsized community an “adult” bookstore opened. At the next meeting of the clergy association it became a topic of discussion. The general idea was that we as leaders of the church community we ought to come out and condemn said bookstore as an affront to moral decency and against biblical morality. It is a typical church thing.

I differed with the popular sentiment and suggested instead that as a group of clergy we should write a lament of our shortcomings as churches, as a community, and as people who are subject to the creation of such a bookstore. I also asked if anyone had gone to the bookstore and visited with its owner; none had. They just looked at me and to a person they asked, “What is a lament? What do you mean?”

la·ment  (l-mnt)

v. la·ment·ed, la·ment·ing, la·ments

v.tr.

1. To express grief for or about; mourn: lament a death.

2. To regret deeply; deplore: He lamented his thoughtless acts.

v.intr.

1. To grieve audibly; wail.

2. To express sorrow or regret. See Synonyms at grieve.

n.

1. A feeling or an expression of grief; a lamentation.

2. A song or poem expressing deep grief or mourning.

I pointed out that there is a whole book in the bible called Lamatations (it is a collection of poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem) and that the book of Psalms was filled with such laments (see Psalm 3,22,57, and 139 for individual laments and Psalm 12,44, 74, 80 for corporate laments). The point I was trying to make was that instead of judging this man and his bookstore and his patrons, we shown acknowledge and confess that we are as a people guilty of the sins that make such fare popular.

Surprisingly, the group agreed with me and asked if I would begin the writing of such a lament. I did and sent it to the other members of the clergy a couple of which added stanzas to the lament and then we sent it to the local newspaper where it was published; a group of clergy confessing corporate sins rather than condemning others. It was a good moment.

I wish as a religious community we do more of that rather than lambasting each other all the time. We have an excellent example in today’s Roman Catholic Pope Francis who constantly asks people to pray for him as he seeks to be a faithful disciple of Jesus. It is the act of a humble man with clear visions of what the church should be about, living out the teachings of Jesus by caring for each other. Oh, he will condemn. He has condemned the crass materialism of our country and others and we chaff from that because he is right, despite the judgment of Rush Limbaugh and his like of being a Marxist. Limbaugh and his political and news commentator kin would be wise to learn the acts of lament; but I’m not holding my breath.

In addition to the church, I feel public servants, politicians who regularly practiced the art of lament, would much better serve us. And we voters should do the same.

It would serve us well to confess/lament, that we are folk who do not take the time and effort to study political issues and positions statements of politicians well enough to be informed voters. We should confess that we are easily led by those who have the most money to spend and manipulate our thinking and voting instead of thinking for ourselves and doing our own research.

News commentators should lament and confess that they are more interested in selling the news than reporting the news that would be of greater help for an informed populace. (Have you ever compared the number of times a news piece is hyped in contrast to the length of the piece itself?)

Finally, politicians should lament and confess that they are more interested in re-election than in doing what is right for the country; that they are more influenced by corporate and big money contributors than they are by the interests of their constituents.

It is easy to judge and condemn and I confess I have done a great deal of that in this article and most other articles I write. It is much harder to confess and to strive to do what is in the common good, but it is what I feel we should be doing.

May the year of 2014 be a year of lamentation.

House Cats?

“Okay, it’s official, I’m a house cat!” announced Lamont.

Lamont Helping Doreen play canasta

“Not me,” replied Paw, “we may be in the house now, but I’m still a Shackteau cat a haert. This place is too big, but I do like the orange chair.”

“I like the house, but then, I still yearn for the Shackteau,” injected Patch. “It was cozier and it had a fireplace.”

“There’s a fireplace in the kitchen in the house,” informed Lamont.

“Yeah, but it’s electric. Fakey fakey, even if it does produce warmth. I prefer the real thing,” replied Paw.

“But we have two floors here in which to play,” Lamont went on enthusiastically. “The views are spectacular. There are all types of places to climb up. Why, I can even get up to the crown molding and inspect the lights behind it.”

Upstairs dining area with deck

“Yeah! Mewreen really likes that,” said Patch sarcastically. “You’re bound to break something someday and they we will all be in deep dodo.”

“Though I prefer the Shackteau, I do admit I like looking at over the backyard,” said Paw. “But I wish we had access to the patio by our food dishes. Maybe in the spring they will let us out.”

“You girls haven’t really appreciated all the new toys and scratching poles, the human servants provided when we moved it,” said Lamont. “They’re a blast. I also like climbing into bed with the human servants. Though I’m not sure Meugh like it when I accidently clawed him in his butt.”

“Accidently? I wonder,” said Patch. “But I’ve found a marvelous new sleeping place amidst the clothes they have they have stacked in the bedroom. I did have to kick out a few of their sweaters and things to make room for me, but it is really cozy.”

Can you find Elmo or rather Patch?

“Yep! I used to be a feral living by the skin of our teeth outside in the cold, then we were denizens of the Shackteau, but now I’m a bona fide house cat,” said Lamont.

“We’ll see.” Said Patch and Paw. “We’ll see. At least we still have our toes which we thought we might lose when we went into the house.”