Executive Function versus Executive Privilege

Welcome.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for crossing the pond and coming here.

As you may have heard, or read or seen, things here are not so “hunky dorey.” There are relations here that have been and are tested beyond normal measure.

When, at a time, you may think, What am I walking into?…What is going on over “there”. I am afraid.

We thank you for putting your duty above and over your fear. We could use some strength over here. From the race race.From the rat race. From the accusations of the race race. From the rampant rat race here. You see, here, it is just another one of the “things” we use to “one up one another”.

Sad. But. True.

Although many of us will not meet you in person. We do feel as though we know you, your family, your lives, your interests.

In reality.

We do not. Know you. We have an idea of your heart, of your goodness, through your parents. Through your grandparents. That is why your visit is so much more important for the greater good. And those who understand, really understand and know why you are visiting. And we welcome you with open arms and a grateful heart.

We put aside your “star” power. We put aside the false stories, the “gossip” and focus on how we can work together for the greater good. For the greatest good of the planet we all inhibit. We all inhabit.

There is nothing bad or wrong about optimism. The best part of it is its innocence and purity. Although it may seem “trite”. It really gets the job going in the best and forward direction.

Here. In the greatest of greats, The USA, we are similar to that of a petri “dish”. Experiments abound as to what will grow and what will die. We, here, in the USA know, or at least used to know we are and have been privileged. And in return, we have, until now, attempted to share that privilege. We have the means to experiment, learn and grow.

But. Right now. We are not growing as a country, as individuals, or as humans. We became lost. Lost in the rat race. Lost in the race race.

Please. If we may be so bold. We never intended for it to “go this way”. With racist accusations and childish temper tantrums of spare and despair.

We have immense and monumental issues with race. Here. We have attempted to come to terms with some of them while at the same time throwing most of them under the bus. Under the bus of despair. All the while thinking that privilege is mine and despair is yours.

Opportunity knocks. And suddenly one finds the self living on your turf. In the English countryside, in the bustling city, in the old time pubs, on the cricket pitch through the wickets.

And there is a silence. A deafening silence. About what? About the color of one’s skin. About one’s race. Never once was there a hint or secret of one’s race. Not once was there a race to find race. A rat race to find out a person’s race. That is a huge testament to the land you visit from.

The land your queen grandmother oversaw and from across the pond from here handled with dignity and grace. And we miss her grace. Her cluefulness.

The ultimate working mother.

We pale in comparison—and not just the color of our skin. We pale because of our own inner sickness. Of not being enough. Of not being the ones, of not being privileged. So. We whine. We wine and we dine those who might be better than us—or so we think.

Drink in hand. Now. Let’s shake hands. Before the ink is dry. Before the ink is dry on the pre nup, the contract, the agreement. To take what is mine and not yours.

It is all kinda messed up. And here. We are in the midst of a lot of messed up. What you see is not what you get. We used to have some order, less demonstrations, less upheaveal. More unity.

Now.

Right now. In the current climate. It is every man for himself.

And we are fairly certain you know what this means. Of what we mean. When the color of one’s skin becomes the obsession du jour—which as headlines have professed—you have been a recipient of. As of late.

Does that make all bets off? Does that mean all bets are off? Time will tell. Books will sell. However.

The story sells itself.

Not just the hate mongering, the cosmetic discoveries, the sports analogies, we are all still the same deep down inside.

We wish to do well by each other. We wish to do well by God. We wish to do best by the earth we live in. Sometimes, we all get lost, Lose our way. Privilege becomes us, we think, and start criticizing the flaws in others that we actually see and may exist in ourselves. And. Do not want to admit it because we have gone so deep into our own self story—too “deep”.

Thus, we find our own narrative too difficult to dig out of, so we “go with the story”, to the “presses” to the print, before we have a chance to utter, “No, I really did not mean it, to disrespect you, I am simply feeling sorry for myself.

Knowing full well and deep down inside we do not mean the harm we bestow on one another, we are simply too obsessive to stop the narrative of our own story. Too much at stake. Too much to lose.

So. We go with the lie, the lies, to the press and beyond. Beyond ourselves. Beyond our rational selves, our privileged selves, our truths.

To make a buck, to make a pound, to make a story, to make believe. Thank you. Welcome. The majority of us, in the US, contrary to the headlines, contrary to the stories, really do believe in the power of good. The power of prayer. The power to lift oppression and obsession with and of the color of our skin.