I Made a List

I'm uncertain if I actually made a list when I was age seven; however, it went something like this: "Dear God, Please make me as courageous, brave and strong as King David, but without the bad things like adultery. And I want poor people to have money. I think the rich can give it. Amen. Oh, and I'd like a dog, please. Amen again." By the way, after begging my parents since age four for a dog of my own, I received one for Christmas six years later. I'd pray some more. Humbly, bless myself and ask God to please wake me up in the morning with health and if not please take my soul to heaven to be with Him.

Yeah, that was me, a baptized Catholic girl, aged seven with a Lutheran father and a Catholic mother. My mother was not keen on the Catholic Church. Four years later, I'd find out why. Why my mom would change churches and get us into the Church of the Nazereen before I was age seven and my brother before age nine.

I can say the three of us truly enjoyed the Church. We always walked on Sundays over a mile to the church, this was while dad would be resting, then working on our rented land in our victory garden. Too, by the time we'd gotten home from church he'd be holding a beer with a lit cigarette, talking to the neighbors, perhaps even having a "toke" in him with our younger neighbors who lived in the 'real' house in front of ours with the same address.

Every once in a while my mom would shake her head at somewhat illegal 'toke' with neighbors she knew he'd had. And back then it was said that you weren’t an alcoholic if you drank after eleven in the morning. And that beer was barely considered alcohol. However, I knew better even by age seven. I think I was given a little wisdom in my soul, which I might have even prayed for in nightly prayers that played like the 'Magna Carte', Or the seventeenth edition of the 'Merck Manual'.

Trust me I'm still that kid. A priest friend commented to me nearly 15 years ago, "You are the most prayerful person I know." He smiled. "Really?!!" I laughed. "Hey. What else is there Father?"

So, my list now is bigger at night. I guess too many people to wish well, even people I truly don't care for. Oh, I am not a mushy all loving person, but I do my best at creating more love, its my possibilities.

My possibilities I'd wondered if they were still there at age 63 currently. I've lived so many lives its hard to add so much more. Although once in a while, I envision a possibility. The possibility that my now deceased husband said, "I'd hate for you to go into politics." Its my honesty which may be wonderful but I'd have to curtail some. Too, its my level of caring. I've been told so. I had a psychologist I did speeches for at a college 30 years ago. He told me many years later as we chatted on the phone, "You care too much. Jody." I inquired how could anyone care too much. Now, however, burnt out on my care-giving business. Although I've kept my license, I still attend classes every year. Yet for the most part I've stopped regular practicing over 5 years ago. I tried earlier this year to work for someone else. After three months, I was like, 'meh'. So, I gave two weeks notice and bagged the part time therapy work.

Over the past two years I'd wondered what other service I could do to improve this country, reduce the bigotry and so forth. I know I can't cure it all, but how does one reduce fear which in turn is some of the cause of bigotry. Fear does do that you know. 

When we pull in tightly, as fear creates that space for doing so, giving us a them versus us sense we pull in so tightly that we can't let go. Especially, when more hate rhetoric is tossed in like one's favorite croutons atop of our comfort salad.

This summer after the marches and my traveling across the country to help a family member celebrate and settle into their new living space. I made my once in a while call to one of my former superiors living in the mid-west. What arrived in our conversation was what I'd been thinking of for the last ten years or more. 

As well, this morning in my random daily reading of all sorts of subject matters from food to tech to LGBTQ+ to economics to medicine and to politics/government. I'll read multiple sources sometimes on one subject in a morning. Sometimes again later in the day to take a rest from writing/editing.

This morning it was Scott Galloway's "National Service" article on the platform Medium.com. Its one of the places I write stories on.

National service? No, its not about your church, your town or your college. Its about serving on a national level. Just months prior was this the conversation I had with my former Marine superiors. Too, I decided to write a list of what would be best for this country, not that I'd run for office. Yet, a person or people I would back if they looked into some my suggestions on how to run the ship called, America.

I wrote a page plus on various ways a person could give National service. The goal was by age 26, it dealt with teaching civics regularly during middle school and high school years. There are ridiculous things I've witnessed that our town has done as far as mandatory classes children have to have to graduate. I'm going out on a limb here, not every kid needs physics; however, every kid needs one of the top five used languages in the world as their second language. Yes they do. The top five may change a bit, however three should be offered from 4th grade and up and three to four years should be taken between 6th and 12th grades. Those top five outside of English might be, Hindi, Spanish, Chinese, German and a select Middle Eastern language most used in the world. We citizens of America are way too provincial. Thats a huge flaw. 

Too, National service if either one year full time or two to three years part time should mandatory prior to age 26 or you cannot move forward with housing, employment or driving a vehicle. You can do AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity or military service. And you have to pass a written civics exam by age 20. You can do your service beginning at age 16. I've also wrote out how children/adults who have disabilities can provide service through technology. There are always ways for a person to contribute on a national level in deed not money. I would ask for your time, not your money. We all have some dues to pay for our living and increasing equality and peace for all not only for our country yet wherever in the world possible. 

So, there's my list, and my prayer.--- Jody-Lynn Reicher