Never Have I Ever

I don't think we teach our children very well about democracy.  

When I was a child, I heard smooth and consistent messages like,
"Everyone gets a vote in our country, children.  That's what makes it so great."  

But then at home, I would hear things that didn't match up with that.
And down the street in the city, I would see things that proved that wrong.
I felt lost and confused. 
I didn't even know what question to ask.
I didn't speak up because there was no room for me.  
I didn't know the reason then.

And we wonder why apathy grows and children become complacent.

I don't think we teach our children very well about democracy.  

Today we tell our children, smoothed and constant messages like,
"Everyone gets a vote in our country, children.  That's what makes it so great."  

But then at home, we hear about things that make this UNtrue.
And on our streets, we see things that prove this wrong.
We may feel confused then numb.
We don't even know what questions to ask.
Why can't we speak up?  Why does it seem there is no room for us?
What is the reason, then?

And we wonder why anxiety grows and children act out.

Sometimes we say, "everyone gets a vote!!!  Yay!!!"  
We say, "it's true!  Read Here!  but not There."

How can we speak up even when there seems to be no room?
How do we explain the reason when children ask us questions?

Sometimes we are glad there is a vote, if it goes our way.
Sometimes we are beside ourselves when there is a vote and it doesn't go our way.

At this point, if you're feeling enraged to the point of wanting to correct, argue or condemn me,
I'm going to assume you've never been denied the opportunity to vote.  
I have.
Or if you were once denied the vote, you were able to work hard to pull yourself up by yer bootstraps.
For a while, not only did I not have bootstraps, I was not allowed to have them.  
Sometimes when I excitedly said, "look, I have bootstraps now!" they were clipped off.
It's true.

Since 1995, I have assumed and been formally given a huge amount of responsibility in a movement.
I am committed to "nurturing the next generation."
The thing is, there is a delegate structure in place resulting in my never, ever having had vote in a continental democratic process.

What might this mean?
If you would like to talk about this, reach out.
Please don't do it in that way that causes public animosity.
Post publicly if you have sincere, thoughtful, peaceful perspectives to share.
Please be in touch if you want to have a smaller, covenant-based conversation.

Democracy is great yet wherever I look, it is not done well enough.
The process of engagement, discernment, giving voice, honoring all, asking questions is missing.
The vote is revered and then we say, "oops, we won.  Yay!!!!!"
What is writ and sacred says, we counted, it's fair.
"A near split vote!" we marvel or moan.

And we wonder why homelands get split and children become orphans.