Still Processing (next gathering Nov 6) and learning to struggle well

Next Gathering details: “Mark Braverman on Israel, Palestine, and the United States,” Thursday, November 6, 6pm happy hour and 7pm interview, Port 393, Holland, MI

Mark Braverman, our next guest, has chosen to live an uncomfortable life. He did this for the sake of liberation, the liberation of the Palestinian people, and by extension, the liberation of all peoples.

As a Jewish American from a Zionist family, there was no reason for Braverman to choose this harder path.

It’s been almost a year since Donald Trump was reelected. I wrote this on Nov 6 of last year.

Your feelings of despair and rage are welcome at Still Processing. You won’t be alone. You won’t be told it’s going to be ok. It is not going to be ok. It is going to be a struggle. And no god will save us. “There will be no miracles here,” as Casey Gerard writes.

So in the face of what will likely be decades of unrest and struggle, how shall we live? This has become a central question of mine, to be sure, but I also think it will be the central question of Still Processing in the years ahead.

When I was dreaming up Still Processing in the summer of 2022, I wrote this and put it on our homepage.

I stand by these words. They feel more real to me than ever. But I also recognize more clearly the challenge they present to me, to all of us.

I am tired. I am angry. I am sad. I want to stop the madness, the pain, the cruelty. But I can’t. No one person can stop this. And if I’m honest, this sometimes leads me to despair.

I need to learn how to live with discomfort, with setbacks, maybe decades of setbacks. I need a longer view of history. I need to learn to find joy in the struggle. This is something I’ve been learning from black and indigenous thinkers. Listen to Ta-Nehisi Coates.

We will not learn to live with discomfort if we continue to tell ourselves comforting lies. For me, this has meant leaving religion, which has meant leaving my job of almost a decade. I am stepping into discomfort for the sake of integrity and authenticity. I am scared, but I am not conflicted.

Here is some more wisdom from Coates, and it is wisdom that Mark Braverman embodies. I hope to see you next week.