Inflection points
On any given day, or month, or year, we can find ourselves in a moment when our actions will tip the balance one way or another.
Nothing in nature moves in a straight line. Branches curve, animals sidle, insects leap at angles. Wings, claws, and tails work because of their shapes, as do leaves and blossoms. Rocks are never perfectly square.
Our development as a species also curves, sidles, leaps, and spirals. Our minds would love to line events up, regiment them as the Victorians organized their plantings, with clear borders delineating one species from another, giving us the comfort of order. But nature, and our growth, are inherently, beautifully, messy.
On this irregular path, at times we come upon what appear to be inflection points: moments when spaces that seemed closed suddenly open.
The verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin is such a moment. (See a couple of analyses in the links after the photo.) Battles over voting rights, prosecutions of white supremacists for their involvement in the attack on members of Congress on January 6, the climate summit, this administration’s actions (or failures) to keep immigrants and asylum seekers safe at the southern border, the inclusion of caregiving as essential infrastructure, present other potential inflection points.
In these openings, our responses matter. Do we sigh with relief, turn away from the challenges, go back to our comfort zones? Do we breathe deeply, refocus on the changes needed, and commit ourselves to doing the work needed to bring them about? Do we stare at the opening, overwhelmed with fear of change, and slam shut the newly opened door?
There are no straight lines, and nothing is a given. I believe the old world view that fetishizes dominance is crumbling, one way or another - we’ll either change it, or it will spell our demise. But on any given day, or month, or year, we can find ourselves in a moment when our actions will tip the balance one way or another.
The verdict in the Chauvin trial is not proof of justice or progress. It is a moment of inflection, one which will reveal the depth of our commitment to true inclusion and full justice based on love. It will fade from the headlines, as every story does. Our choices in this moment matter as much as they did last summer, as much as they do every day.
Sent, as always, with gratitude for your company on this journey.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/21/chauvin-verdict-opens-up-world-possibilities-will-we-squander-them/
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-significance-of-the-derek-chauvin-verdict