Despite What You See in the News – Life is Good.
By: Iyabo Onipede – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
In spite of school shootings, people being fired two days before their $1.2 Million pension vests (if that is true), and a grotesque display of incompetence masking as leadership, Beloveds, I am here to tell you that life is good.
My name is Iyabo, and I am a hope peddler.
Life is good because this chaos brings opportunities and aliveness that we have not seen recently. Kudos, hugs and full open-heartedness to the gazillion kids across the country who have become involved in the political system and are reminding us of our values and demanding that we do not abdicate our responsibilities towards them. Heart bursting with pride.
Life is good because when we see unrighteousness publicly displayed by the firing of a public official a day or two before his pension fully vests, after 20 years of dedicated service, we can no longer be numb to shenanigans and abuses of power that have become normative in our daily life. We say “no” to unrighteousness and we embrace what is right. As a woman of faith, I do not like religious-speak. I know it turns people off sometimes and the way my Evangelical brothers and sisters have bastardized our faith in these perilous times is so disheartening. But some terminology just hits the nail on the head. Let us call a spade a spade. Unrighteousness is unrighteousness. And the gift of unrighteousness is that Righteousness will prevail. The last chapter has not been written. I am on the side of what is right and what is fair and what is of justice – Righteousness with a capital “R.”
Life is good because when we see bad leadership, we must hear our soul’s clarion call for good leadership. Beloveds, humans want good leadership. It is our birthright. I am grateful for #45 (whose name shall NEVER be muttered) because he brings out the collective shadow side of this country. The invisibility that racism yields, the greed capitalism exploits, the abuse of power that patriarchy unveils, and the nationalism that breeds ethnocentrism has forever been altered because he gave us this great gift by bringing it out in the open, forcing us to look at ourselves as well as the culture that we live in.
Beloveds, life is good. A single cell amoeba will always gravitate to the light. Why? That cell wants life, aliveness, animation, air, nutrition. That cell wants to thrive.
Our collective wants to thrive and no one, not you and not me can be left behind this time.
Life is indeed good.
Iyabo is a Leadership Development Coach whose work focuses on the soul of the leader. She moves leaders from thriving careers into discovering, crafting and living into their life work. By helping successful people integrate spirituality into their leadership roles, they become more engaged with their work, expand the connection of their work to social justice issues and experience more satisfaction in their life work. Using the power of narrative and reflection, she helps leaders fine-tune the sacred “work their souls must have” (Alice Walker).
Iyabo is located in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Goucher College (B.A.), Georgetown University Law School (J.D.) and Candler School of Theology at Emory University (M.Div.).
Iyabo’s home on the web is at http://www.coachiyabo.com
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