God bless America

I haven't actually opened the book (since I'm deep into two other books at the moment), but yesterday I pulled Jacob Needleman's great The American Soul from the bookshelf, laid it on my altar. I was moved to do so after two days during which my neighborhood buzzed with the energy of the cases being heard down the street at the Supreme Court.

The wave of energy I wanted to access, in my role as shaman, is not about outcome, though of course I do hope they will strike down any law that prevents people who love each other from marrying. I try to avoid the thought form of this is right and THEY are wrong because there's already a lot of that energy floating around, especially here in DC. Us vs. Them? No thank you.

The energy I want to ride is best described by Mr. Needleman as America's unique ability to reinvent itself over and over again. He does not say America is perfect, oh my god, no way. He speaks to the ways in which we're able to make big changes culturally and societally - and how unique that is. He describes America as a work in progress. It resonates.

Here is a great interview with Jacob Needleman by Krista Tippett from 2003, titled "The Inward Work of Democracy." GREAT interview, well worth an hour of listening.

Instead of trying to will or hope or pray that the Court decides according to what I believe, I'd rather lean into the energy of possibility, dance with the transformational soul of America. To my shamanic eye and shamanic heart, the possibility that we are again about to take a huge step forwards is where the "juice" is. As a shaman, I find what I consider to be the juiciest energy, then dance with it.

I'm glad we won't know what the Court decides for a couple of months. I'm glad they take time to think before making these kinds of decisions, especially for something so important to me. People who love each other should be allowed to marry one another. If the Court agrees, won't that be something?

What will be, will be. Shalom.