Author: Dylan Anderton

I have a very good friend who was born in Iran. We met many years ago through a leadership development program. He just sort of naturally and quietly became the wiseman/ spiritual guru of our class. He is one of the most humble, gentle servant leaders I’ve ever known.

Tonight, with my heart heavy about what is happening in our country I reached out to tell him I was thinking of him.

He sent me back the most amazing response. I post excerpts here (with his permission) because I think his words and wisdom are so powerful right at this moment.

He wrote, “Our new President has become our teacher, perhaps not the kind we sought or were waiting for but nevertheless he is teaching us with every action he has taken and every order he signed in the past week. He is teaching us we need to be more engaged and involved if we want our country to live up to its constitution and to our core values; that fearmongering works and discrimination and racism is well and alive; that a democracy can only be democratic if its citizenry is engaged and informed; that you can completely derail an established system of government by misinformation and alternative facts.

We have also shown that we are excellent students and learn quickly. We demonstrated that people power overcomes hatred and bigotry; that there are so many people in this country who care enough to come together to have their voices heard and support those who are suffering; that hundreds of attorneys have set up shop across the country in numerous airports and are offering their services pro bono to those in need; that love and compassion are greater than any executive order and humanity cannot survive without them. ……..
While we go through the harsh winter of this political season, we also know that spring will come sooner or later. We’ll work together to plow the snow off the streets and sidewalks so we can still move and function even in the midst of winter.

I opened Richard Bach’s Messiah’s Handbook and this came up:
‘You are free to change your level of consciousness by whim,
learning or design. You are not free to stop expressing life.’”
…….
My beautiful friend is a man with a name that sounds “Arab” and with dark skin that looks it. In truth I have no idea what his “religion” is but I value his spiritual wisdom as much as any human being I’ve ever known.

He has spent the bulk of his adult life here in the U.S. as a public servant, particularly working with, and healing, at risk kids in some of the most difficult possible settings.

And yet, with this recent executive order he could be detained, questioned and treated with suspicion instead of dignity. This kind of behavior will never make America as great as we could be.

#cylviahayes #highwatch #holdingthehighwatch #resist