Self-Reflection and Breathing People

Self-reflection has become a critical personal discipline for my life.  This practice offers me the opportunity to examine actions I have taken, words spoken, and thoughts I have meditated on throughout the year. Self-reflection is a humbling practice as it allows an individual to face him or herself. 

I think we are all in need of a little bit of self-reflection during this period of our societal history.  We are not as holy as we make ourselves out to be on a daily basis. We are not as just and merciful to others as we would want others to be with our own actions and words.  We are not as civil as we think we are in the 21st Century America. 

Civility. 

What a strange word.

This word invokes images of peaceful interactions between persons. Persons who have equally chosen to place themselves in positions in which there are no religious, social, political, or economic hierarchies. I imagine civility as the embodiment of two human beings on a journey of questioning, discovery, and understanding. 

Civility should produce friends.  

Then I realized something. In order for civility to be embodied in human beings it necessitates the acknowledgement of a human being’s personhood. Rufus Burrow identifies a zeitgeist or spirit of the age in which persons are not appropriately given the consideration of their inherent worth. If I am not willing to acknowledge the dignity of the person with whom I am engaging within a form of communication the result will not be beneficial to either of us.  If I desire to see civility I have to do something different. 

As I reflect on this past year, I worked hard to provide a platform for people, primarily on social media, to discuss topics of race, poverty, and other social issues.  Sometimes the topics went very well while other times I just shook my head and chose to delete the whole interaction.  I realized I was contributing to the incivility I was seeking to reduce.  

Breath changes people. 

When a person feels, touches, and sees another person the opportunity for change is possible. That is what happened to John and his friends in first century Palestine with a Jewish Rabbi who embodied the breath of God.  Social media is a poor platform for interaction because people are not face to face. Our ability to feel appropriately, touch a hand, and see facial expressions are significantly hindered.  Social media many times creates opportunities for persons to diminish themselves through disrespectful and dehumanizing comments which prevent any type of meaningful engagement, discovery, and understanding.  I have observed even the most encouraging statement can descend into ugliness. 

So now as 2019 approaches I need to exhale in the presence of other living persons. I want people to recapture the power and beauty of inspiration through the virtue of human presence. 

Noam Chomsky stated “freedom produces opportunity and culminates in responsibility.”  I have a responsibility to people in the area in which I live to cultivate civility.  Why? (Only God knows.) Whatever the case, I understand my small platform and will pursue opportunities to advance the dignity of persons. 
What will this look like? 

1. No more social media posts.
2. I will write a monthly blog post addressing a particular societal concern. 
3. I will Invite people once a month to hear that post read. (This will be an event posted on Facebook)
4. We will face to face discuss what I read and engage each other face to face. 
5. I will then post blogpost on my website with no opportunity to comment.  

Hopefully you will join me. 

Join me for self-reflection, civility, and the opportunity to experience the breath of another human being.