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Dr. Mike Obsatz, Professor Emeritus at Macalester College Archives
December 2021
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Cultivate Your Garden8/18/2022 Journeying Through Life With Few Expectations or Agendas  We travel through life from the time we are born until we die. We go many places, meet many people, and have a wide variety of experiences. Some of these experiences bring us joy, others bring us pain. And some are just neutral.
As we grow and change, evolve and experience, we can be too caught up in appearances, approval, and expectations. What if every encounter with anyone was simply an opportunity to learn something or support someone else on their journey? What if we had no expectations of reciprocity, or continuous contact with particular people? Letting everything go, not having an agenda, and not expecting a desired result can seem like it is avoiding the real meaning of living. However, being too caught up in the "real" meaning of everything can be restrictive and depressing. The government changes. Politicians come and go. Their decisions affect the lives of many people. What if we didn't expect them to be wise, or evolved, or even thoughtful? Not being attached to outcomes can result in a calm spiritual peace. There will be peace and there will be wars. People will leave us, betray us, and hurt us. But it is simply the way they are. We can grieve all the pain in the world, as well as our own. Or, we can just accept that life has its ups and downs. Nothing lasts forever. Some people are spiritually evolved, but many are not. The world suffers from a lack of compassion, empathy, and trust. No one is totally safe anywhere. How can we live in the world, but not be too devastated by the world's inhumane, unloving ways? Do your best. Give life your best shot. But don't expect to be loved or appreciated or valued for the gifts you give. Give the gifts because you are a gift giver. Give time, energy, attention, love, compassion, empathy, and nurturing. Life is a garden to be continually watered, and cultivated. I think Voltaire got it right. By letting go and letting the Divine energy lead the way, we go with the flow, and have few fits of rage, jealousy, envy, resentment, and regret. So, ease on down the road of life. Savor every minute of real beauty and connection. We are all in this together, and yet we are on our unique paths. Let's simplify, and let's watch the "dramatic response" to life's ups and downs. It's an amazingly wild ride, and it is time to let go and let God.
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Transformation8/18/2022 Formation, Conformation, Transformation, and Illumination  As children, we are taught to listen to our parents, obey rules, and conform to certain norms. These norms are created by a culture -- norms about gender, norms about appearance, norms about seeking approval, and norms about being accepted and popular.
Social media including television and advertising are in our faces from the time we can read and see. At some point, if we are fortunate, begin to develop minds of our own. We re-think and re-examine what we have been taught as the truth. We grow more mature and realize that what we have been fed is not necessarily for our own personal good, nor the good of others. Someone else must benefit from our blindly following the ideas of our culture. Empire Consciousness is taught from our early childhood. We are brainwashed from the beginning about power, success, competition, domination, control and hierarchy. Unless we challenge these ideas, we will continue to live in a world of pain, fear, destruction, violence, addiction, and loneliness. The opportunity that we have on the spiritual journey is to see something else that matters. Another way, another idea. This is Oneness Consciousness, a transformational awareness that can move us from "me" to "we." The common good of all becomes our touchstone, our focus. This transformation to Oneness Consciousness is crucial for the survival of the country, planet earth, and all of creation. Without this, we stay stuck in a level of immaturity, striving, and the never-ending longing for more. We can become conscientious objectors to the cultural norms. We see an alternative to hatred, fear, and desperation. It is the process of sharing what we have, being mindful stewards of what we have been given, and living with compassion, gratitude, generosity, mindfulness, and Divine guidance. We see the Divinity everywhere, especially in the diversity. We see the Divinity in the disheartened, the lonely, the oppressed, the marginalized, the outcasts. This Oneness Consciousness leads our way to meaningful connection and compassion for all of life and the earth itself. We are illuminated, becoming beacons of shining lights, to dispel the darkness of Empire, and to bring peace, love and joy to all of creation.
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Older Is Bolder8/17/2022 Age-ing, Sage-ing and Still Shining  When I was a boy, age sixty was considered pretty old. Many people I knew were ill and dying in their fifties and sixties. Today, the miracle is that people are living longer these days -- many to almost 100. That is 40 additional years for many people. This means that midlife is now around 50, and retirement does not mean packing it up and sleeping for hours in our rocking chairs.
This may be due to medical advances, early detection of diseases, more available health care, and people learning to value and care for their mental and physical health on a regular basis. I am almost 81 years old. My body parts have become my children. I must care for my ears, eyes, teeth, hips, backs, legs, feet, joints, lungs, heart, etc. Every day, there is attention paid to diet, exercise, medical appointments. Older people are not the fragile, dawdling people sometimes shown in movies and on television. I have watched older shows like "The Carol Burnett Show" and "The Golden Girls." The humor is often putdowns of growing older. Carol Burnett plays "the old folks." Estelle Getty is in her 80's, and although she is sharp and witty, there are clearly jokes at her expense due to her age. Side note: On "The Golden Girls," Rose Nyland (played by the wonderful Betty White) is a dumb hick from Minnesota. Many of the stereotypes of Minnesota are degrading. But that's another story. Older people are incredible. They have wisdom and experience. They have overcome many obstacles and much suffering. They have gone through loss after loss. They have watched trends come and go. They have lived through peacetime and wartime. They have marched for the freedom and rights of others. They have created beautiful art-- books, movies, paintings, etc. Many have traveled to different parts of the world. Many have raised children and loved grandchildren. In "the Sibling Society," Robert Bly states that many young people rely on the internet or each other more than they do and older people. He believes that elder wisdom goes untapped. Elder wisdom is cherished in so many cultures. In America, we learn early that wrinkles are ugly and gray hairs are signs of incompetence. A number of amazing elderly people have died in the last few years. Cicely Tyson, Robert Bly, Stephen Sondheim, Betty White, and Sidney Poitier are just a few of the famous ones. What can the elderly teach others about patience, humility, living in community, and social change? It is time to change our thinking about getting older. Older can be bolder. Older can be wiser. And older is definitely not time to be "put out to pasture."
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Why So Many Mass Shootings?6/22/2022 What Men and Boys Really Need that They Don't Receive  There is a hole in the heart for many young men and boys these days. Some are hurting so badly that they become depressed. Others become violent and take out their anger, pain, and self-hatred on others through mass shootings.
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