September 21, 2021- After stopping by Prescott College’s Crossroads Cafe, for a small lunch and time in the Meditation Garden, I drove past a small, but noisy, group of ultraconservatives, one of whom briefly stepped out into the street and blocked traffic, prompting some genius on the other end of the spectrum to stop his vehicle and offer a one-finger salute. I was four cars back, just wanting to get back to Home Base, and so waited the three extra minutes to do so. No harm, despite the foul.

I am more of a progressive and inclusive bent, though being so through a faith-based lens. Thus, I find gifts from both sides of the continuum, and base my own philosophy of life accordingly.

To wit: Life begins at conception, and life is sacred. Thus, I maintain that abortion is a tragic act, should not be the basis for either enterprise or have its victims’ remains used for scientific research, without the express and informed consent of the surviving, grieving family-any more than any other deceased person. The mother of the child does have a choice, and invariably, I hope she chooses life.

That same life that is being defended by conservatives does NOT lose value, as the person gets older. So, the support for suffering people being exhibited by those on the Left is no less valid than the concern shown for pre-born people by those on the Right. The hollow hue and cry about “reckless spending” by some in Congress should fool no one. Money can be found, and most of it through means already detailed by the proponents of the large-scale efforts. The whole obstructionist effort is being made for no other reason than to hold onto personal power. We may not need cradle-to-grave socialism, at the expense of personal and collective self-discipline and incentives to achieve, but we certainly need efforts to lift up those whose very sense of self-worth has been decimated by those whose attitude is : “I’ve got mine, pal, so suck it up.” (Disclosure: I did sever ties today, with someone in another country whose whole premise for friendship was to get me to fund his children’s private school education. Every child on the planet deserves an education, but no one is entitled to derive their family’s extraneous well-being on the backs of others. If that makes me a hypocrite in your eyes, so be it.)

I stand for a life of service, connectedness, affirmation and validation, not for its opposite-hoarding, separation, negation and lack of initiative. The circle is unbroken.