A Life of Civic Engagement

Most of the time I talk about being civically engaged through methods such as voting, joining community groups or boards, etc. Today I spoke with a living example of civic engagement. For the sake of anonymity we'll call him JM. We crossed each other's paths while I was checking out the UT Austin Alumni Center during a field trip my program was taking on campus and JM was taking pictures of the center's main lounge. He explained to me that eventhough he attended UT as a student many years ago, he'd never been able to visit the alumni center. While a student at UT, JM became ill and his illness significantly limited his experience as a first-year student and eventually caused him to drop out of school altogether.

After recovering from his illness, JM kicked around for a while before finally earning his degree in Education from a local institution. Flash forward to the present time and he is now teaching Math at a high school in the Rio Grande Valley. He tells me that he has too many students in each of his classes, most with students that often worry more about being shot or having a roof over their head than solving equations and proving theorems. Still, JM smiles when talking about a few students that "get it'. Students to whom he has pledged to do whatever is possible to help them get where they want to go. This simple, unassuming and ordinary looking man, astonishes me with story after story of connections that he has made with his students and their families.

There was one story in particular about several students on the brink, torn between school and gang affiliation, with tremendous potential and a former student (also gang affiliated) who visited with JM after school. The former student asked JM if any of his students were giving him any trouble or not showing up to class and upon hearing about these students the former student assured JM he would "take care of it". From that moment on, those same students might have skipped other classes, but never JM's class. JM gives me a dizzying list of all of his ideas and thoughts about what his kids need and the ways that he's able to get his kids to open up see a way to a life better than the current one that is a daily fight to survive.

As I listen to JM brag about some of his students and articulate the hope that he has for his future pupils, I cannot help, but wonder if JM will ever do anything more than teach Math in the Rio Grande Valley. As if on cue, JM tells me that he is considering a return to UT to enhance his education, but isn't sure whether or not doing so would be worth it. I don't know if JM will take his gifts and passion any further than the depressed region of southern Texas and I don't know if he and I will ever cross paths again. What I am sure of is that while JM may not see it, he is a living, breathing example of what it means to be civically engaged. JM is not just teaching the kids in his class, he is showing them support and accountability that most of the world around them doesn't have time or the energy to offer.

JM is investing in his community the greatest resource his has in his possession, himself.  By doing so, he is proving that it doesn't take much to become civically engaged, just eyes to see a need and the will to answer it.

Free Will and Civic Engagement

I had a conversation with my wife the other day and it began as an exercise for me to clarify why I love this country and its Democratic Republic form of government. The two of us are nerdy enough to do this on a semi-regular basis, but I digress. What began as an exercise focused on me clearly knowing the foundation of my passion for the democratic process became something much more telling for the both of us.

With plenty of experience coming in contact with the very worst parts of politics in all off its shameful horror, my wife is not exactly what one would call a "political animal". It would be more fitting to consider her a politiphobe (not sure if that is an actually word, but humor me). With the exception of following Obama's presidential campaign, she can hardly stomach hearing from political news shows like Hardball and AC 360 (don't even get her started on The Briefing Room and any Fox News programming).

Anyway, we're talking and I begin telling her that when people get civically engaged it not only helps that person, but their family, loved ones and a bunch of people they may never meet in their community. When more people get involved, it leaves less people out there feeling like they are alone in their experience whatever it is, because engagement allows people to share their story; their triumphs, trials and tribulations. When we know we're not alone in what we're dealing with, fighting for or trying to find our way through, we step more confidently and more courageously because we believe there'll be someone to pick us up should we fall.

I gave her the example of my mother's fight to secure full disability benefits for my brother who is a veteran of the First Iraq War and is now wheelchair bound due to Hodgkins Disease and Muscle Ataxia believed to be brought on by Gulf War Syndrome. For many months my mother made calls, visited offices, made personal appeals to elected officials and finally got in touch with someone who believed they could help her. Even after that, she had to constantly call this person and make 3 hour long round trips to visit with this man to finally get my brother what he was owed by the government for his service to his country. My wife knew this story all too well and it seemed to fuel her disdain for the government's ability to turn its back on its citizens, thereby becoming an accomplice in the citizen's condition.

After going back and forth with her, we separated for a few minutes after she suggested that if I'd brought her a bible instead of the massive packet of non-profit organizations I put in front of her (my evidence of the power of those who chose to become civically engaged in subtle and specific ways), I might have had a case. So after a little thought I came up with a fail-safe legitimization of civic engagement in spite of the current conditions the average citizen finds him or herself in today.

It goes to the very core of Christianity or most any belief rooted in a higher power. Free Will. My wife and I being the believers that we are, understand that every day, every hour and minute is a choice. We can either choose to live as someone who believes in God, his son and the holy spirit or we can chose to live as someone who does not believe. God goes on whether we believe or not. We aren't forced to do anything we don't want to, but as believers we understand that life (in all its manifestations) is better when we choose to live as believers.

The same goes for those who live in a Democratic Republic. We can choose not to live as people who believe in a Democratic Republic or we can choose to live as people who do believe. As things stand now, the Democratic Republic will go on whether we do or don't actively engage in it. Still, life tends to be more full and satisfying when we choose to live as believers in our form of government. Throughout history, Democracy has proven to be the only form of government that allows its people to choose the direction of both themselves as individuals, but themselves as a smaller part of a greater whole.

Our government (as could be argued with modern religion) exists in such a way that is hardly recognizable from its earliest beginnings, but there is still hope in its foundation. It is in that foundation that the possible cures of our government's ills lie dormant, waiting to be rediscovered. The ability to change, shift and chart a better course for our country is the most unique and most precious element of the Democratic Government we live in today.

There is but one question left to ask. Are you a believer or not?