A Message from Maria Coutant Skinner, President & CEO
November 1, 2024
Dear friends;
Seven McCall staff attended the Global Exchange Conference in Tampa that began on October 6th. You may remember that date as the day our news cycle temporarily moved from running ubiquitous political ads to the warnings of hurricane Milton. Our little group couldn’t risk riding out the storm and potentially being stuck in Florida for an extended period, so we rented cars and evacuated north with countless others. While it was a bit of a harrowing adventure, ultimately, we all made it home safe and sound and are profoundly grateful. As the news has shifted back to a feverish onslaught of those political ads and coverage of how divided we are as a nation, there are some observations I’d like to share.
As we ventured north on various highways and byways, we saw thousands and thousands of utility trucks, red cross trucks and others who were headed south – into harm’s way – to help. Through crowds and traffic and no vacancy signs, we observed the very best of humanity. Here’s what it looked like through my eyes: universal care and compassion for every life encountered. It was a demonstration of what we are capable of….but, as we are all too aware, we are also capable of the opposite.
With the election upon us, there is an increasing anxiety building. With the news awash in negativity, it can be easy to believe that our country is filled with fractious hatred and fear. I’m reminded of the Celtic prayer; “God help me. The sea is so big and my boat is so small.”
As our group was headed to safety, several of us had family concerns that were concurrently unfolding, including me. Greg required emergency surgery to resolve an intestinal issue and was rushed to the hospital while I was 1,500 miles away with no immediate way home. Fortunately, our children and family members stepped in, he received excellent medical care and is now home and healthy. As all of this hung in the balance, I found myself reciting the Serenity prayer and learning to accept that I had no control over myriad facets of the situation.
There is much that we have limited control over in this world, including the election. Will people staffing the polls be treated with respect? Will all go peacefully? Will leaders accept the will of the people? Will we elect politicians who have the best interests of our planet, our children, the vulnerable and marginalized in their plans?
Friends, we may have different views about how to get to where we want to be, but I’ve found that we have much in common and by staying in respectful conversation with one another, we can work towards solutions.
In her latest Substack article, Stitching What Lies Beyond: Finding hope and human connection in times of profound division, Krista Tippett shares:
I will turn 64 in a few weeks, and it has crystallized in my mind and moral imagination altogether that this is what I am here for: the nourishing of those who insist on pursuing the highest qualities of being human, and on being of service to healing and transformation on a long horizon of time. I believe this is our longed-for state of being, but we are bombarded by so much that primes us for its opposite, activates our primal fear of “the other” and a self-destructive desire to wall ourselves away instead.
All of this reflecting, of course, applies intensely to American political life at this moment. I’m orienting — and it is spiritual and life discipline, moment to moment — to the beyond of this election. For this is the only thing we can know for sure: On the day after this election, whoever wins, my country will be as fractured as the day before. That is where I am throwing my care, life force and social creativity. John Paul Lederach, who is as you know my teacher and companion in all of this, said to me the other day that the task in working for long-term evolution — as this also works in the natural world — is to attend “not to what has arrived but what is being stitched.
I am hoping that we are guided by choices in our voting and beyond that will stitch together our world in unity, compassion and inspiration for each of us to regard one another with our highest and best. We need not look far to find evidence of our capacity to love and respect one another and create a counter narrative for our country’s path forward.
All my best,
Maria Coutant Skinner
President and CEO