I am a liberal Democrat. I am a Christian. I am a humanist. I
believe in Choice. I support Gay Marriage. I believe in gay rights. I believe
in reasonable gun laws including background checks at Gun Shows before a
purchase is made. I believe in children. I believe in grand parenting. I
believe in laughter and kissing and hugging and love. I believe in thinking, in
using your mind and not just your emotions, which are often accurate, but can
be easily manipulated. I believe in books. Books are guides into mystery and
morality, into wisdom and insight, into gratitude and generosity, into
acceptance and endurance, into risk and living, and we need all of that. I
believe in pets because whether it’s a dog or a cat or a bird or a turtle it
invites compassion from us and can make us a more decent person if we treat it
with care and affection. I believe in the sacred which has the power to move
and even transform us. Nature is sacred. Seasons are sacred. So is the ocean.
Quiet worship before great art is sacred. A movie can be a sacred experience.
Theater is sacred. Holding a baby is something sacred. Raw, absolute, real-life
music is sacred. Have you heard Adele’s new album? There are halos around those
songs. Listen to Leonard Cohen. His music is holy because it’s honest. It’s so
honest it hurts. And hurting can be sacred too. I believe in poetry. Poetry is
hallowed when it is written well. Poetry elevates the spirit and makes things
clearer. And whenever things are clearer and your spirit is elevated you’re in
the sacred. I believe in asking questions. I believe in learning more, a lot
more. I believe in equal rights for women, for minorities, for the disabled,
for the vulnerable and the forgotten. I believe Black Lives Matter because
white lives already do and always have. I believe my fellow citizens here and
around the world, people of all races, cultures, and religious beliefs, are my
brothers and sisters and we have a human obligation to respect them and hear
them and know them and embrace them before we fly off the handle and want to
judge or attack or condemn or kill them. I am an optimist with a healthy
cynical streak. I trust with reservations. I have longings but not without
limits. I want more than I can deliver. I keep hoping you will deliver and help
me get there. I have issues I’m working on. I believe we’re all unfinished and
always will be. I don’t believe being a Christian makes you better than others.
It ought to make you more loving though. I don’t think Jesus died for our sins,
I think he died showing us how far love will go. And it’s intended to go a long
damn way. I think he invites us to try it. None of us have ever stopped sinning
so let’s stop pretending we’ve been saved from that. We have not. I believe in
friendship, but friendship costs something and my friends are few and
cherished. I believe in family even with all of its messiness and mine has had
some of that over the years but my family has greatly narrowed now and I have
the ones I need because they love me in spite of and because they are there for
me and always have been and always will be and I adore each one of them. I know
we should all be healthy and treat our bodies well and exercise and stay fit
and I believe in that but I also believe there’s nothing wrong with a bowl of
ice cream now and then and a good cigar and a cocktail with friends. I believe
in connection, in feelings, in holding people you really care about close until
there’s nothing left but whispers and silent words and acts of caring. I
believe in America. I believe in its core values. I believe it’s good only when
we are. I believe it can be a beacon of light in the world but only if the fuel
is decency and smarts and the courage to be human. Otherwise the light flickers
and goes out. And then we’re all just beasts in the dark terrified, brutal,
violent and self-destructive. I believe in the end all that we leave behind of
any worth is the love we shared. And our laughter.
© 2015 Timothy Moody
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