Ten minutes can seem like a long time when your schedule is already overflowing. Any time we set aside for a 10-15 minutes meditation may seem possible in the morning, but the time usually evaporates by late afternoon.

But what about a 90 second Flash Meditatiton? - something intensely focused that can happen in a sliver of time - while you are waiting for the shower water to get warm, idling at a stop light, in line at the pharmacy, waiting by the microwave, or when your friend is 10 minutes late - again.

Flash Meditations, short, tight, and focused, do not allow time for a mind to wander. No need to set down pillows, get yourself comfortable, light a candle, get a glass of water, turn off your phone, come back to center, sit still and breathe. Just experience this cleansing, clarifying flow when your heart insists.

These three stages of our 8-10 minute meditation can be adapted to a shorter time:

1. Notice the negative.

2. Savor the positive.

3. Imagine a better future for all.

Here are those same stages in Flash form: 30 seconds each.

1. Notice the negative:

When this seige on our nation stirs up your anger, listen to it, feel it. Let it teach you the nature of dark hearts and those who ply evil on the innocent for their own gain. Then send your fear and anger out on your breath. You want to be left with understanding but not attachment. 30 seconds.

2. Savor the positive:

Open yourself to small and large acts of kindness: hugs in the morning, favors from friends, happy families with playful children, dedicated citizens protecting our biomes, protecting each other, protecting our shared freedoms.. Let all this goodwill lift you up, give you hope. 30 seconds.

3. Imagine a better future for all.

You have deeply held values that move you to respond with anger at injustice and joy at simple kindnesses. Honor these values. Let them shape an inner vision of a better future for all humankind. Don’t skip this step!! We are building the future of our planet out of the values that shape us today. ….……..30 seconds.

And there you are! 90 seconds to stave off terror, support the good, and create our future.

Less is more.

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends ever so slightly towards justice.  
Martin Luther King 

News of mind boggling cruelty comes at us so often that we all should be numb and submissive. But we aren’t. Americans are responding to this mean spirited mess with kindness, compassion, joy, and generosity. Instead of being fearful, fear mongering has flushed out more good will.

Before this administration’s dark agenda revealed itself, I knew very little about the life of a proprietary farmer in the midwest, or independent business owners in the south. But as I began to hear stories of how tariffs and inflation have affected their lives, I have become invested in their economy, health care, and the quality of their children’s schools. Nebraskans live 1431 miles away from Boston, where I live, but now, as the effects of this regime roll in, Nebraskans feel like family. This is good.

As you know, Portland, Oregon, 3082 miles from Boston was the first city to come under siege by the White House. What did Portlanders do with ICE agents and the California National Guard roaming their streets, harassing their neighbors, invading stores and workplaces? They did not fight fire with fire. No, they fought fire with fun, led by a 7 foot inflatable frog. What a fresh and disarming move! Soon, all sorts of fanciful animals were bouncing in the streets, defying the oppressive nature of this attempt to takeover a pleasant American city?

When ICE agents and the Texas National Guard were deployed to Chicago, 979 miles to my west, the courageous Windy City citizens stepped outside their homes and onto the streets, ready to witness peacefully for justice. Pepper balls, tear gas, and rubber bullets did not deter them. They stayed calm. Now, having watched on our phones and computers, we can grasp what was at stake. Breaking that bubble of peaceful resistance with violence would begin a civil war: neighbor against neighbor, state against state, MAGA against the nation. Thank you, Chicago!

These cities are my heroes!

The more the White House slashes support for people already struggling to get by, the more Americans respond with food banks, peaceful protests, standouts at ICE detention centers, protest choirs, posts, chats, lawsuits, and enormous signs held up at rush hour. While we serve hot meals to families or sing in a protest choir, we are building alliances and creating a better future together. Young people are chatting about politics on social media. And they are voting, leading boycotts, and running for office. Imagine the new energy and cultural depth of our next congress!! Oh, this will be good!

“The flourishing of humans depends on kindness, friendship, and mutual aid.” Aristotle 384 BC - 322 BC

Aristotle’s perception of human nature has been echoed by great philosophers, scientists, theologians, and social historians such as Martin Buber, Charles Darwin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Dalai Lama, and Brene Brown throughout the last two millennia. Their agreement is clear. Civilizations that foster empathy and generosity survive longer than rigid ones. Interactive societies have more influence on the evolution of their communities - and as a result, human evolution.

Charles Darwin’s famous phrase, “survival of the fittest”, so often used to dismiss bullying and greed, actually meant something quite different. Survival of the fittest is about plasticity, adaptation and cooperation - not competition. To be fit is to be flexible and resilient. To have power and influence in a community, we do not have to occupy cities, or blow up fishing boats, or arrest other people’s children. We don’t need to terrorize a community, or have the biggest bank account and the largest house. We just need to be real, honest, fair, and loving, taking a turn at leadership if it comes to us.

Kindness releases oxytocin, a peptide hormone and neuropeptide that creates a sense of well being. This good feeling prompts us to continue the kindness and spread more joy. Hurtful words and hateful actions release cortisol as high stress and adrenaline as high energy. You’ve seen it in people’s eyes, right? There is a brief moment of recognition of threat, then a flash of anger as the adrenaline kicks in - then words or fists start flying, or worse, weapons come out. This burst of energy may create some momentary satisfaction, - the thrill of revenge perhaps, but dark emotions eventually go bad. They disconnect rather than bind us together and there is no social structure upon which to build community.

Does it seem to you that kindness has been given short shrift in our culture - thatt doing good was considered shallow, old fashioned, trite, naive? In such an environment, it is tempting to cover up tenderness or goodness with a more formidable facade. It takes courages to be kind. Pretending to be impenetrable is easy, but it circumvents relationship and mutuality.

When we are in a room that is dark, we turn on the lights. When a friend is downhearted, we talk up the bright side. Send vigilantes to terrorize our streets, and citizens turn out to protest it. Cancel children’s nutrition programs, and the good citizens of our country open their own kitchen cabinets to give away their own food. Kidnap persons for crimes they have not committed, and people respond by accompanying “detainees” to their hearings, by writing to their congress people, or sharing what they know on social media.

We talk to each other while we are marching together, or serving food together, designing memes and billboards, or commenting on Substack posts. We share our reasons for volunteering, and what we hope will emerge from this cataclysmic moment - all of this creating a webwork of purpose that surrounds us and stretches across the nation and around the world. As has been predicted by philosophers, cosmologists, and priests, like Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, and Pierre de Chardin, we are creating a future based upon kindness, generosity, cooperation, and compassion.

The future has begun. And it in us. We are the irrepressible good.

Rev. Gail S. Ransom, DMin

We invite you to join us in an (almost) daily MEDITATION FOR OUR NATION by following the simple prompts below. We also invited you to return to these Substack reflections as we explore the edges and depths of this spiritual, political moment.

Here’s the simple formula that we follow for our 8 minute Meditation for the Nation:

1. Notice the negative. Breath in. Contemplate it. Regard it from a conscious distance. Breathe it out.

2. Notice the positive. Breathe it in. Amplify it. Revel in it. Breathe it out. Take it in.

3. Envision a more humane existence for everyone. Breathe it in. Enjoy! Breathe it out into the future. Breathe

If you attend any rallies this weekend, please consider bringing copies of the words to America the Beautiful with you to pass out to your friends and rally-mates. The words are positive and powerful, evoking the values we cherish. The text lifts up our concerns as if it was written this morning. It would be good to sing it with like minded patriots. Nothing brings a group together like song. The words are included at the end.

It can be daunting to sing out loud by yourself, so I suggest you find some people to join you before you start, and then begin by humming. Humming is less invasive and more anonymous. It is also easier for others to quietly join in. Things go better if you start on the same note in a good range for most adults. I suggest E as that starting pitch, not too high for altos and not too low for baritones. You can bring a pitch pipe or musical instrument with you, or download this app: http://bit.ly/tun-t1 to get that starting E.

My fixation on a single starting pitch is the result of too many renditions of Happy Birthday started by 6 different people at the same time on 6 different pitches. Unknowingly, they start the song in their speaking range - down where pop singers sing and rockers singers rock. The result is a gravelly choas. We don’t want that. I would like to give us the best chance for our singing to be heard and inspiring. Thus, the pitch pipe, or this app: http://bit.ly/tun-t1

When people sing together, they stir the air around them. Pitch vibrations merge in various mathematical relationships, entraining people’s hearts and voices. I don’t know exactly what each particular emotion does to the air, but I do know that our emotions are what makes a song worth singing.

America the Beautiful was first a poem written by Katherine Lee Bates 130 years ago in 1895 as she travelled through Colorado. Samuel Ward wrote the music independently in 1883. The song heralded amber waves of grain, purple mountains. Mercy. Grace. Nobleness. Liberty. Our nation undimmed!” (May it be so!) The tune is reverent and inspiring - and the words express exactly where we are right now. Amazing. May our hearts swell with love of our country and each other this weekend. And may we have the opportunity to sing about it.

Below are the words. I’m copying mine on business cards and passing them out. You could do the same or give your friends the link to this blog. meditationforthenation.substack.com

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

1. O beautiful for spacious skies

   For amber waves of grain:

   For purple mountain majesties

   above the fruited plain!

   America! America!

   God shed its grace on thee,

   and crown they good with brotherhood

   from sea to shining sea.

2. O beautiful for heroes proved

   in liberating strife,

   who more than self their country loved

   and mercy more than life!

   America! America!

   May God thy gold refine

   till all success be nobleness.

   and every gain divine.

3. O beautiful for patriot dreams

   that sees beyond the years

   thine alabaster cities gleam

   undimmed by human tears!

   America! America!

   God mend thy every flaw,

   confirm thy soul in self-control,

   thy liberty in law.

I am sure you know the story of the clueless and complacent frog who died in a pot of boiling water because he waited too long to get out. The frog started comfortable enough when the water was like a warm as a pond in mid summer. But as the human on the otherside of the fire turned up the heat, the frog was lulled into a stupor and was not conscious enought (woke?) to hop out.

At least that’s how the story goes.

Our fascination with this urban legend points to our fragile capacity for both tolerance and denial which often prevents us from acting on our own behalf. The early warning signs are not that severe, but the heat escalates exponentially. By this time, with Maga constantly turnig up the heat, we have surely passed the tepid stage and have entered a high simmer.

In my meditation this morning, I had some difficulty taking it all in: Indifferent cruelty. Abject lies. Unchecked villians. Cowardly politicians. Abuses of power. Scenes of confrontation and retribution swirled through my imagination. Not their vicious retribution, but mine! In my mind, I was saving everybody. I was barring the door to immigrant homes. I had the perfect rant to shout out at the ICE men which made them disperse. I created diversions at rallies under seige. I was infiltrating the ranks. I had some power.

This was all in my imagination.

It took awhile to step back enough to notice that I wasn’t following my own meditation guidelines. That insight helped. I took another metaphorical step back until it all looked like a montage from a seventh grade art project. I moved back a little farther and began to get enough distance to breathe it out - not away, just out - where I could regard it, but not let it take over - kind of like stepping back from a large mural to catch the larger forms and the meaning of the overall composition.

The rest of the meditation finally flowed on. I remembered the goodness and light in my life and invited it to shine through the darkness that was crowding around us. I remembered heroes of the week that stepped up to others’ defense. A wedding. A toddler’s hug at my knees. Beautiful days, one after another. Neighbors helping neighbors. Grassroots organizers. Marcus who fixed my flat. Susan with her babies in the park. As it collected in my soul, the power of joy spilled out into the world around me.

We are now 13.7 billion years into the universe. It’s beautiful. It’s complex. And fascinating. It has birthed families of stars and families of lions, dolphins, songbirds, and people. It created waterfalls, energy, and fire and a glorious world of natural beauty to support that life. All this could have only happened through a system of creation, of continual positivity, of saying “Yes!” to possibility.

To be sure, there is destruction as well. But that destruction serves creation. The destruction MAGA is offering does not seem to serve anything, not even their own lust for revenge. It’s never enough. (More on this at another time.)

If hate and destruction had the power, we would have collapsed a long, long time ago.

It turns out that the story of the frog in the pot is not scientifically accurate. Frogs and other reptiles are ectothermic. They regulate their body heat by their location. If the hot surface of a summer highway is too much, they move into the shade. Biologist are fairly sure the frog would have jumped out of the pot once the water got too hot.

So then, maybe we are not supposed to die in the pot, clueless and complacent, either. Maybe we shouldn’t just accept a dangerous situation and watch the steam rise around us. Maybe we need to hop out of that stew as soon as we notice something is wrong and find a way to change the temperature of the moment and the conditions of our future.

Here’s the simple formula that we follow for our 8 minute Meditation for the Nation:

1. Notice the negative. Contemplate it. Breathe it out.

2. Notice the positive. Amplify it. Breathe it in.

3. Envision a more cooperative existence for all life forms. CHerish the thought!

Our hearts are busy: vessels, valves, and four dark red chambers continually pump 1.3 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of veins and arteries in each one of us, without losing a beat. Every second of every day, when we sleep or make love, when we run, when we meditate, when we breathe, when we sing, our hearts are right there with us, pumping, replenishing, and keeping us on the go.

But whatI am talking about here is the other heart. The one that has no attendant organ in the body, but it is arguably the most powerful force in our lives. We can’t see it, but it interprets and directs almost everything we do. When we say “My heart goes out to you”, “My heart overflows with gratitude,” or “I don’t have the heart to go on,” we are referring to this emotional heart. And although it has not resident organ in our body, when we are overcome with joy, or grief, or gratitude, we place our hands on our chests right over our physical hearts pulsing just a few inches below.

“Okay, sports fans,” blares the stadium speakers,“Please stand for the singing of our national anthem.” Thousands of fans rise to their feet, lift up their right arm and instinctively place their hand across their chest, landing right over the throb of their hard working physical heart as they sing out with fervor. For a moment, the stadium is a nation of patriots.

What we are experiencing during this MAGA administration is emotional warfare, an attempt to disempower our hearts through fear - meant to make us cower, lose hope and fortitude. This attempted subjugation started rolling through our democracy like a WWII Sherman tank in January, seemingly unstoppable. As the brazen takeover expanded, so did our anger and confusion. Each time we read about it, felt it, or talked about it, we became prisoners in their web of negativity, expanding their field of control.

I admit that I felt panicked in the first few months. I frantically read and watched anything I could find that might hint at a reprieve. But I didn’t find the relief that I was looking for on the internet. I found it in a group of friends who stepped back from the fear baiting and regarded the Trump administration from a guarded distance. We committed to contemplate a distanced negative and a flourishing positive for 8 minutes at 8am every day we could.

Here’s the simple formula that we follow for our 8 minute Meditation for the Nation:

1. Notice the negative. Breathe it out.

2. Notice the positive. Amplify it. Breathe it in.

3. Envision a more humane existence. Breathe with ease.

I know it seems like dark hearts have the upper hand. But they don’t. The universe, in which we are integral participants, is primarily positive. Positivity supports life. Negativity suffocates it. Love brings people together. Hate tears them apart. Love creates. Hate destroys.

Negativity cannot move forward into a better future. It is stuck in its myopic creeds and patterns from the past. Staying positive is the way we will move through this turbulent time together. Promise. Hand on my heart.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King

Rev. Gail Sofia Ransom

The California Zephyr is Amtrak’s longest daily route, travelling 2,438 miles between Chicago and San Francisco. Every day a few hundred terrain lovers climb aboard the Zephyr to marvel at alpine peaks, deep canyons, and the sea-seeking rivers that shape the American west.

Two weeks ago, my family and I hopped on the Zephyr in Denver and rode through the Rocky Mountains to Salt Lake City for a family celebration. A few warm and wonderful days later, one daughter and I re-boarded the Zephyr and continued the iconic journey westward. Over eight days, we would cross the entire country, Boston to the Bay, sea to shining sea.

We rode the rails through Nevada over a wide swath of the Mojave desert (43,750 sq miles) - a breathtaking expanse of sun faded grass and scattered sagebrush punctuated by bare but colorful igneous mountains. There were no utility poles, no power lines, no settlements. No roads. No cell towers. No markers to measure time or distance. Just brush, clumps of faded grass, and solitary mountains.

“Who lived here?” I wondered “And what is their view of our country and its issues in comparison to my east coast perspective? Could this spare terrain and my green leafy mountains cupping cool ponds in a wide sway of seasons actually be the same country?

Heat waves rippled up from the sand-seeded soil of the Mojave. It reminded me of the power of unseen things - like wind that conjures the hurricanes, or the air, that invisible sea of life and breath, song and laughter. Can we see love flowing between us? Do we see prayers and intentions, and human connections as they dart in and around us, traversing miles in an instant?

We could bring all these busy invisibles into the spacious skies above the Mojave terrain and none of us would notice. ”No, nothing here,” we’d say. “Only sagebrush, rocks and faded grass.”

I toss my heartfelt petitions into the ether where they join others who have had the same inspiration. That’s how it works. Minds with similar thoughts, no matter how far apart, often send out the same intention at the same time. With each new prayer, the reach of the shared intention grows exponentially and begins to shift the paradigm - a Quantum entanglement of tiny transformations creating big change.

The California Zephyr continues to skim across this desert on its ribbons of steel, while our interconnected petitions soar above. Staff, snacks, suitcases, naps and riders jostle in the cars.. Next will be Reno in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, then the fertile Sacramento Valley, the California Coastal Range, and our destination, the San Francisco Bay.

.

I was reading a bedtime book to my granddaughter before I tucked her in. It was a funny one about a dog who ate something for every letter in the alphabet. “S” was for slipper. “T” was for tablespoon. And finally, “Z” for zipper. As we finished the book, the room felt playful and happy.

Next came the transition to the dark.

Transition into solitary darkness has not been easy for Ruthann. She needed the door open. She needed a light on. She needed one more cuddle. Eventually, her parents gave her control of the ceiling lights in her room so that she can turn them off on her own. That changed everything. Now, Ruthanne owned the darkness.

“Hey, google, Lights Out!” she said with confidence.

Immediately, we were blinded by the dark. “Can you see me wiggling my hand in front of us?” I asked, attempting to dispel any lingering fears with playfulness.

“No. Can you see mine now?”

“Not at all! Let's keep wiggling and see if we bump into each other.”

“Oh, there you are, grandma! Now I can see you!!”

Slowly, shapes of gray emerged from the dark landscape of her room. From under the door to the kitchen, there was a faint glow spreading across the carpet. At the edges of the opaque window shades, slivers of light pierced the darkness, tracing the surface of her furniture, her books, her tower of blocks, her drawings - all in grayscale. The intricacies of this small room, so recently bathed in a dark haze were being revealed. The 120 million rods in our retinas were adjusting to night vision.

As her breath began to take on the rhythms of sleep, the nature of the darkness was becoming more clear for me. It quickly became a metaphor for the darkness we address in these meditations, a darkness that also presents itself as more powerful, more pervasive than it really is.

I get up to leave and return to a world where another, more foreboding, darkness looms. I am taking this memory with me to remind me that, although the dark seems infinite and powerful, it is mostly billows, bluster, and blame. The whole shadowy business exists not on its own, but within the light: the kitchen, the hallway, the night sky, the stars. Light energy brings life. Dark energy obscures it.

Little one, sleep well. Your room is now gently lit, with light glowing enough for you to see that everything in your room is in its place and waiting for the new day. and look! The night sky has seeped through your window and you have become part of the whole story, the waves of dark and light, our constant journeys around the sun. But remember what you have seen here. No matter how complete the dark feels, the light will always be there, stronger, better, brighter.

You are not alone.

How many times since a majority of Americans voting reelected Donald Trump to the Presidency have you asked, "What can I do?" and felt completely helpless. A friend of mine and I, talking a few months ago, were going down this desperate path and then stopped.

We are both very faithful, spiritually aware, people. I earned a Ph.D. in Formative Spirituality twenty years ago and, along with that, have felt a strong sense of calling to be a "pray-er," a person who prays without ceasing, as charged by Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That's the goal. With that commitment, I must value prayer. My friend does, too.

More precisely, she is committed to meditation which, I confess, is a mystery to me and a little intimidating. I treasure the simple distinction: prayer is talking to God while meditation is listening to God. I have tried meditation many times and always find my mind wandering or my eyelid itching. I judge myself a failure at it, but I also acknowledge the vast human practice of meditation in all religions as well as the meaningful experience of my friend.

We suddenly realized together that prayer and meditation were things we could do in this clear moment of threat to our country and to the world. We may never see or know the impact this action has on our present situation, but we believe it has one. So I have developed a steady practice of meditation for eight minutes at eight o'clock (8@8), focusing on the positive light of God's love.

I confess, I sneak petitionary prayer in there: my speaking to God of the horrors being reported daily from deportation of American citizens--children, to boot--to halting life-giving aid to desperate people around the world. When I bring these to the throne of God's love, I feel strengthened by the light that also sheds on me.

My friend has encouraged me to let go of my judgment. Everybody's mind wanders in meditation. Teresa of Avila spoke of the fly buzzing in and out of the window. When I realize my mind has wondered, I just bring it back. And I try to include my heart, the feelings my focus prompts that day. They are not distractions; they are prayers lifted up to God, as well.

You can see, I am mixing prayer and meditation. That is fine, too. God, the Universe, whatever we choose to call it, receives it all with Grace. At the very least, I feel calmer. At the most, as far as I know, I am doing something. For me this daily meditation is just as valuable as the signing of an online petition or joining the Hands Off! demonstration or emailing my legislators, maybe more.

I don't really know. It's a mystery.

I was addicted to my fears. I was binging on congressional hearings, press conferences, virulent threats and outrageous conspiracies, Jasmine taking down Marjory, Raskin talking up the constitution, apoplectic political polls, and the future this president was creating. Every morning I would check my phone to see if anything new had happened. YouTube put me to bed - very late. I was limited to 30 seconds of talking about politics by my friends.

“Where attention goes, energy flows.”

It was time to look at where I was putting my attention. Obviously, I was pouring a lot of my energy into something I did not support. Why? How could I keep from embodying the veryemotions I condemned?

A Zoom conversation with a dear friend made the difference. As we were sharing our frustration and anger, I confessed that I was not a traditional activist. My activism is deep prayer and meditation. Janet, a Presbyterian minister with a powerful daily prayer practice, said “Gail, let’s agree to meditate on the positive, not the negative, every day at the same time and debrief with each other by text.” And so Meditation for the Nation began.

We agreed to meditate everyday for 8 minutes at 8am, or 9 minutes at 9 am to release our fears and anger, to acknowledge the cruelty but not cower. Our focus would be on the positive, to amplify the love and goodwill we perceived in our country, whether or not it was tied to politics: acts of kindness, compassion, courage, and neighborlove. Each of us had friends we thought would want to join us and in no time we had a meditation group that spanned the nation.

We hope that you, too, will join us on this herculean journey. The math of the effectiveness of intentioned meditation shows that your participation would subtly inspire the energy of several hundred people. Really. Let us know that you have joined in by subscribing.

It’s perfectly fine to just add this in to your daily practice We can all keep in touch with this Substack post with guest blogs and your comments. We are particularly interested in reading your descriptions of the positive images and ideas from your meditations. These comments create a positive vision of the future which we can share.

If you can find a buddy or create a group, please do. Community brings out the best in us. Set a regular time that works for you. 8@8 or 9@9 in any time zone, whenever is good for you. Together we will be weaving a subtle web of goodwill across America from sea to shining sea.