The Lightening Tree

Across from my bedroom window facing the Verrazano Bridge there is a small park.  The park really nothing more than a tiny city green space with some benches, trees and flowers, but it is lovely.  This park has been and remains a great place to sit in the warm weather, enjoy the fresh air and one’s neighbors.  Often in the summer, some young person will have their guitar, flute or other instrument and practice.  Last summer a horn player visiting from New Orleans graced us with some really great soulful music.

In this park, on the eastern edge is an old growth Linden tree.  It is as majestic as they come, but for some reason it attracts lightening; so much so, that some in the neighborhood, including myself, refer to it as the Lightening Tree.  Its trunk is scarred and twisted and has to have many branches removed because of damage done during severe lightening storms.  I have witnessed lightening strike this tree during a summer storm and saw that afterward it had shed all its leaves.  I was sure that the tree would not recover.  Yet, this tree still stood and thrived the next season shooting out new branches and leaves.

  

Some weeks before Superstorm Sandy, I noted with sadness that the tree was marked with an orange “X”.  This “X” means that this tree was slated for removal by the Park’s Department. 

The night Sandy hit, I lay in bed feeling the winds buffeting my old brick building that has stood for more than 100 years.  I listened as the wind howled, the rain pelted and branches snapped.  I also heard what must have been trees falling and I thought: I wonder if that is the old Lightening tree falling?  I thought to myself there was no way this damaged and scarred old tree could survive such an intense storm.

The next morning, I walked outside to see the damage around the neighborhood.  I looked to the south and to my amazement the tree still stood.  It was only one of three trees in this small park to survive the storm.  This tree has yet to be removed by our parks service even after eight or so months after being marked as too weak and scarred to stand. 

To me, the survival of this tree is inspirational.  This tree a visual reminder that although we may be buffeted by the strong winds, lightening and rain that life sends our way, we can still stand strong against the storm and still thrive.  We just need to hang on, trust our roots to hold us upright and wait for the storms to pass.

Stereotyping and Fear

While watching the news and the press conference of Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of the Boston Marathon bombers, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a lady at the local laundromat yesterday.  As many of you might already know, I live in an area where we are an interesting mix of people – Greek, Korean, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Spanish, African American, along with just about every Middle Eastern country is represented here as well as Americans.  This lady and I find ourselves meeting up at this laundromat fairly regularly and have become warm acquaintances.  She is clearly American with no accent hinting at any other birthplace.  She was wearing a traditional hijab so is also clearly Muslim.  Her blonde, curly mop haired, hazel-eyed freckled daughter laughed, played and ran around while we did our chores and chatted amiably. 

As we watched the latest news on the Marathon bombing, she mused out loud how she took small comfort in that no terrorist ties to Islam seemed to be being made.  She feared that if a connection was made then ALL Muslims would be blamed and made suspect yet again.  She looked at me a bit fearfully to see my reaction.  I assured her that as someone who survived and witnessed two terrorist attacks in NYC I wasn’t ‘one of those’ that thought all Muslims were radical jihadists.  Her relieved smile underscored to me how terribly many Americans must treat her and others in her community.

She opened up a bit and said that although she wasn’t born here, her family came to America from Syria when she was two and all her brothers and sisters were born here.  Her father worked hard as did her mother and embraced America as their new home.  They are as fearful, ashamed and angry at those in her community who embrace radicalism as any of us.

As I watch the news this morning and hear the conjecture that these young men who perpetrated this horrific crime were Muslims from Chechnya, I wonder if this fear anger and persecution of Muslims will spread and include the Russian community.  Ruslan Tsarni’s anger at his nephews was clear.  His fear that he, his family and friends would be subjected to such persecution and suspicion was also clear.  He defended his estranged brother (the suspects’ father) by saying that if the boys were radicalized, they were radicalized here and not something that was observed before 2005 when the uncle last saw them.

Now the conjecture has begun that there are Islamic terrorist ties to this horrific event.  Conjecture that somewhere along the line these boys were ‘radicalized’ in recent years.  This may be true and might even be likely, but it doesn’t mean that every Muslim is out to blow up Americans.  I can tell you in no uncertain terms, that is not my experience.  After the 1993 Bombing, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon I have watched the members of the Muslim community here look around them in fear.  I have watched its leaders speak until they were blue in the face about how Islam reviles such actions and that it is not what the Islamic Community stands for. 

I understand that our communities may always stand apart because of cultural and religious differences; it does not mean that we stand against one another.  I beg you… do not stand against the Islamic community because of this.  If anything you’ll miss out on the most beatific smiles I have ever encountered when showing kindness and acceptance. 

Musings on Hate

Hatred is so easily manipulated and be led. Hatred is based in fear It is destructive and breeds insecurity and paranoia creating a viscious cycle of more hate more insecurity and more fear.

When coming from such a fear base, it allows others to control you, your thoughts and your actions. Hate invariably leads you to a place where your energies are tied up and knotted. Every day we're seeing those who wish to manipulate and control others take the fear of others and lead them to hate. Sadly the most recent events involved the deaths of children.

I'm not going to go on to comment about gun control or anything like that. I just want to put it out there that the more you hate, the more you can be controlled by others. The more you fear the more hate it breeds within you.

Let the pain go. Fail to let the insecurity rule you so that you that others can lead you down a destructive path.

Just breathe deep and change your mind away from fear and hate. Empower yourself so that others have no power over you.