Constitution Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Look away?! – Photo: L. Weikel

Sunflowers

I did a double take when I drove past a nearby field earlier today and saw row after row of towering sunflowers. Usually when I see fields of sunflowers I slow down so I can admire their bright and sunny faces. This time, though, it took me a moment to even realize the extraordinary sight I was seeing.

I drove past the field and found myself feeling like something wasn’t right. It was almost as if I’d witnessed something that simply didn’t compute in my brain. It was a mild form of that notion that when we perceive something either visually or aurally, but have no prior context or experience with this occurrence, our brains scurry to try to find something within our internal ‘data banks’ that make sense to us. Or else we ignore it altogether.

Most of us have experienced this at one time or another – and have heard our brains whirring within, trying to find a ‘match’ to help us identify the subject of our experience. I know there have also been research studies that have tracked how our ability to ‘see’ something is impacted by our expectations.

I actually think that’s why it took me a bit of a drive beyond the field to realize what I’d just seen.

Shunning

I did a U-turn to return to the field as soon as my comprehension clicked. Yup. It was a field full of sunflowers with their backs turned. I thought the entire scenario was especially odd since the sun was a good 90 degrees in another direction. What in the world were these sunflowers so fascinated by as to eschew their beloved sun?

It truly did feel as though they had turned their collective backs on the traffic driving by their field. They were shunning the traffic, perhaps?

I supposed that’s a possibility. But I likened their behavior more to the utterly appalling admission by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that they hadn’t even watched the testimony of the four officers before the House Select Committee yesterday.

Honestly, I find that level of disrespect for (a) the officers who showed up for work on January 6^th, 2021 and actually worked to save these lawmakers’ lives; and (b) the process undertaken by our government to conduct legitimate oversight of and investigation into exactly what unfolded on that date, why it happened, and who was behind it, utterly inexcusable.

Disrespect

I do not understand how elected representatives can so profoundly disrespect the foundations of our government and the Constitution upon which our country was founded (and which they specifically took an oath to uphold and defend). Disrespect is being shown at every level and, quite frankly, I believe our hearts are wounded every day as we observe this taking place before our very eyes.

It is excruciating to stand by and watch those with the greatest power appear to remain unscathed by their betrayals of our country, our laws, and our norms. I shudder to think what conclusions our youth are drawing when they see adults – and some with very high status within our country (military, elected, and appointed individuals) – acting like petulant bullies and disgusting, uncouth vandals.

Sunlight

I wish we could be like the sunflowers I saw today and simply, collectively, turn our backs on these people. I’m afraid the only way for us to do that is in the voting booth.

What’s scary is that these bullies are doing their level best to undermine our belief in the sun of democracy: the voting systems in our country. They’re trying to fool us all by saying the sun no longer shines and fooling us into installing spotlights instead. Then, all at once, they plan to turn out the lights and allow chaos to ensue.

We’re at a huge moment in our country’s evolution. And we all need to be paying attention. Much as we wish we could turn our backs on the insanity and disrespect, we mustn’t. It hurts to watch it unfold, but we must not stand in denial of what’s unfolding before our eyes. We need to see it; we need to call it out; and we must do everything we can to reclaim the truth of the sun.

(T-121)

Photo: Wired.com

Backlash

Let’s hope there is one.

Let’s hope a vast majority of our fellow Americans look within, soon, and say, “Hey. This just isn’t right. The Senate is saying it’s ok for one branch of government to stonewall another. It’s ok for one branch of government do whatever it wants and thumb its nose at another branch of government that was given specific authority of oversight.”

I wanted to write about something other than the expected decision by Senate Republicans tomorrow to actually vote against allowing testimony and the production of documents in the impeachment trial of DT. But what is unfolding before our eyes is compelling. It is every bit as irresistible as passing a terrible car accident – but I guarantee more people will be hurt or killed as a result of this abdication of responsibility than by any car accident, no matter how huge a pileup.

If you do not see a problem with what is unfolding in Washington D.C. right now, I guarantee you are going to be shocked when you see the depths to which we’re going to be dragged, as a country, over the next several days, weeks, months, and I shudder to think how much further. And I do mean depths will be plumbed so fast and so blatantly our heads will spin.

Dark Days Ahead

I saw a clip of DT tonight performing at a rally in Iowa. It was chilling. He is visibly giddy with power. Drunk with the possibilities unfolding before him.

When everything starts to crumble – literally (because those tax breaks have to be paid for by somebody, and we just don’t have the money in our budget anymore to fix roads and bridges) and figuratively (power unchecked is going to get ugly unbelievably quickly and will inflict horrors on our communities, our neighbors, ourselves in ways I guarantee people have said “can never happen here”) – where are we going to turn?

To the courts? Sorry. They’ve been packed by McConnell with young, extremely conservative people who actually believe in an executive branch that holds unchecked power. They believe in the judiciary being less powerful than the executive branch! They are not going to save you, me, or themselves.

To our representatives? Sorry. You can kiss your deeply held belief in the power of your vote to elect people who will write laws that will correct this miscarriage of justice. Because those very representatives have (or will within the next day or so – you know, before the Super Bowl, because that’s the centerpiece around which our Senate now makes decisions that make or break our Constitution) voted to abdicate their own authority.

Genie’s Out

Sorry, within the next few days the genie will have effectively escaped its bottle and all the safeguards our founders put into place to keep it from escaping in the first place will be worthless. No one in the history of our country has experienced such an abdication of power by our legislative branch, and thus, because there is a lack of imagination and maturity in those whom we rely upon as our elected representatives, we are going to face consequences I guarantee we will hear people say, “But I never imagined it would get this bad so quickly.”

How many times do we have to hear and see and witness firsthand the propaganda and manipulation that’s bombarding us daily before we realize this shit is real?