On Tuesday, poet Elizabeth Alexander
stood in front of the country
and the world and read these words
from the poem she wrote for President
Barack Obama’s inauguration:
Some live by love thy neighbor as
thyself,
others by first do no harm or take
no more
than you need. What if the mightiest
word is love?
Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of
light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter
air,
any thing can be made, any sentence
begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the
cusp,
praise song for walking forward in
that light.
That’s a tall and incredibly radical
order.
To place love central to our every
activity and call it mighty means
checking every decision against it. If
the mightiest word is love, the mightiest
people are the ones who live into
love fully, generously and without
self-consciousness or apology. And
the poet was not describing just any
love. She wasn’t talking about the
way you love your spouse, who does
nice things for you like cooking dinner
or taking the dog out on a particularly
icy morning. She wasn’t talking
about the way you love your kids, who
are knit into the very fabric of your
heart. She wasn’t even describing the
way you love that dog - the one who
smells dawn coming when it’s still
half an hour away and wants to go
mark the yard so that the sun doesn’t
get any big ideas about trespassing.
She was talking about a kind of
love that trumps all those other kinds
of love.
Could you do it? I don’t know if I
could.
But what if the mightiest word is
love? What if you put it front and center
in everything.
It would be easiest to start at
home, where it’s easiest to start any
big thing. Of course it’s also most important
to start there. How would it
change things? What would you realign?
Me? I should get up a little earlier
and make coffee every day. I
should be more organized with the
laundry, not because disorganized
laundry is a moral failure, but because
it bothers my husband, whom I
love. That’s just the beginning of my
list.
From home, it’s easy to make the
leap to community. Is there a difference
between feeling a sense of community
responsibility and acting with
love for your community?
Does one
mean doing just
enough while the
other means coming up with new
ways to express your love?
Expanding that circle of light, how
would things change if love were the
mightiest word at work? In most
workplaces, money is the mightiest
word. Money is important, no doubt.
But what if it were the fuel that made
things run as opposed to being the
destination?
If love were the destination, how
would it change the way people
worked together and how they worked
for their clients or audience or consumers.
Can you imagine a workplace
where employees were bound by love
for each other? I’m not sure I can, but
I would like to.
And what I would like even more
is to imagine a world in which companies,
corporations and other businesses
acted with love for the people
they serve.
More seemingly impossible things
have happened. And every impossible
thing that happens makes the next
impossible thing just a bit easier to
imagine. And every action that widens
that pool of light also makes it
brighter, and makes it easier for the
next person to spread.
Elizabeth Trever Buchinger is going
to do her best to walk forward in
that light. You’ll find more of her at
www.moremindfulfamily.wordpress.
com or you can email at
VillageWordsmith@gmail.com.
Columns
This Wonderful Life
- Columns
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Mother's visit was a benchmark for this year
Last week, my mother made the 25-hour plane trip out to Thailand to visit her son, me, after nine months of having only choppy Skype sessions and scattered emails to give her an idea of what I look and act like since having left home last August.
Continued ... -
Local Voices From Around the Globe: World traveler calls Euro-Tour experience of a lifetime
While I've had a great time throughout my entire exchange, I can say hands down that the month of April brought me the best memories of my exchange if not some of the best of my entire life. What kind of wonder would bring me to say this? Simple. Euro-Tour.
Continued ... -
Maryland port attacked
Havre de Grace, May 3. "This morning, a little after the break of day, a British armed force, under cover of armed vessels which anchored in front of this town ... landed below a small breast work which had been roughly thrown up, and in which were one 9 and two 4 pounders, manned by 50 militia.
Continued ... -
Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career'
Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
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Imagine what might have been ...
A while back we got a telephone call from a reader of this column wanting to know why we had not written a column in support of Otsego Manor continuing to be owned and operated by Otsego County. And even though we have followed the debate over this issue in the newspaper, we readily admitted we did not feel we knew enough about the situation to take a stand.
Continued ... -
Herpes virus brings harness racing to a halt
I've been going to harness horse race tracks my entire life. My family has been in the business for years.
Continued ... -
Time, if not traffic, moves on ...
It is with sadness we note the passing of two people who we have known since moving to Cooperstown in 1982.
Continued ... -
Canadian capital captured
Dear Sir, I have just returned from Fort Niagara, where I saw a Captain of the United States' navy. He is just from little York, the capital of Upper Canada, and gives the following account, which is confirmed in official dispatches from Gen. Dearborn to Gen. Lewis ...
Continued ... -
Local Voices From Around The Globe: Exchange is like a life in a year
All exchange students realize the credibility of this statement. Like all lives no exchange is the same, all are incredible unique exchanges. The metaphor of life, from baby to old age, extends to every part of the exchange.
Continued ... -
Movie depicting legendary Jackie Robinson does not disappoint
Going to the movies is not something I do often. I can count the number of times I have gone on my fingers, unless you include trips to the drive-in. And even so, it took me years before I made it to one of those -- going for the first time two summers ago.
Continued ... -
'Dubious' about weather, Hawkeyes 'suitable' nickname
Unfortunately, it seems to us that this spring has, thus far, been anything but spring like. In fact, we are still more than happy to stay bundled up in our polar fleece.
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'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball
The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
Continued ... -
Swallow talk and bluebird vigilance
I assume the swallows have returned to Capistrano. They have returned to Hawthorn Hill as well.
Continued ... -
Local Voices From Around the Globe: Life in Hungry has taken a turn for the better
I can truthfully say spring has finally arrived in Hungary. It's almost time to wear shorts and sandals, for summer will be just around the corner. This brings me great happiness and great sadness, my adventure is coming to a close. Really what a time it was, I don't think I can compare it to anything else.
Continued ... -
The importance of speaking up ...
Over the years we have come to understand that, in writing a weekly column, it is not possible to always please everyone. And such was the case with our column that ran at the end of March in which we wrote about our experience as in inpatient following a total hip replacement.
Continued ... -
Public schools created
The Common School Act of 1812 marked the start of New York's public school system. Much of the credit for this was due to the radical Otsego County politician Jedediah Peck (1747-1821). To quote the NY Education Department:
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Book takes readers on path for equal rights
One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
Continued ... -
Local Voices From Around the Globe: Experiencing India at every new turn
Come, sit down. Hold this and, wait ... ah, there you go. Obeying these commands, I found myself seated on the pavement, wearing a turban and attempting to make sounds out of a recorder-like instrument for the black cobras in the baskets not two feet away from me.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Will I be American or will I be Thai today?
When would someone have the ability to present themselves as a native of a country of their own choosing? When they’ve lived eight months as an exchange student, of course!
Continued ... - Second host family makes Hungary feel like home
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Mother's visit was a benchmark for this year
