A Thanksgiving Prayer
Lapidus & Myles Newsletter v. 7
Blessings to All Y’all People of Conscience,
During the month of November we found ourselves sharing music near (here in Atlanta) and far (Maine!). In our travels and our sharing, we meet so many incredible people of conscience and also noticed a common theme: the ties that bind us to one another are more at risk of breaking than ever. Our Thanksgiving Prayer is that each of us find ways to strengthen rather than weaken these sacred ties, that we find ways to come together across differences rather than grow the chasm that so many of us experience in at least some of our relationships.
The forces that seek to divide us, to alienate us from one another, and even from ourselves, are not new. But they do feel increasingly powerful. Complex global conflicts reduced to memes and ill-informed sound bites on social media. Myriad voices seeking to exploit our fear and anxiety. Compassion fatigue from the endless suffering to which we are given a front row seat. The filtering of urgent yet nuanced issues through the lens of reductionist ideologies. This is, of course, a partial list.
In our travels we heard more than a few stories of families fearing what might happen when they come together for Thanksgiving this year. Will there be shouting matches? Will there be irreparable damage done to our relationships? Will some people simply refuse to attend out of a belief that it is unhealthy or a violation of their truth to surround themselves with anyone who doesn’t share their belief or opinion? If your family is feeling any of these tensions, we know how painful that is.
As far as we can tell, there are forces at play that seek, as their primary aspiration, to divide people of conscience from one another. These forces know that we are stronger together and that the best way to weaken us, as people of conscience, is by creating an irreparable breach between us. These forces don’t seem to care whether we get pushed to the radical left or the radical right, only that we lose our ability to stand in the center. What’s the center? The center is a place where we can have dialogue, where we can acknowledge complexity, where we can summon compassion for more than one group of people at a time. The center is a place where optimism toward our future remains both possible and necessary. The center is a place where we can still hear, see, and be with one another. Will the center hold? It has to.
Voices calling for nuance feel rare and precious in our present moment. People showing up in solidarity for one another, even when it's complicated, feels rare and precious. The voices of people of conscience are urgently needed. We’ve gotta speak up and speak out.
For those of us that are fortunate enough to have a Thanksgiving table where we can sit and enjoy our abundance, it’s heartbreaking to think that these societal dynamics may play out among those we love and in our families and homes. Difficult though it may be, our Thanksgiving Prayer is that we summon our strength as people of conscience to create a Thanksgiving table that is wide enough and big enough to hold space for all of our loved ones. Not only their physical presence, but their ideas, opinions, beliefs, and worldviews. We may not agree with everyone around the table, and we may worry that some of our loved ones have fallen prey to the forces of misinformation and ill-informed thinking. But only by welcoming them to our tables can we hope to connect with them conscience to conscience, in a place of compassion, truth, and love. If you find yourself sitting down next to someone who you fear is at risk of being irrevocably driven away from the center, may you be empowered by a teaching from Jewish tradition: words that are spoken from the heart will surely find their way into the heart as well.
Till We Meet Again,
Micah & Melvin (Lapidus & Myles)