A Letter from My Great-great-great-great-grandchild, Cruz

An exercise in remembering that we fight for justice because we believe it's possible.

I spent the past weekend participating in a staff/board retreat of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, and it was healing, especially during this election season when I have been discovering how unaligned I am with colleagues and acquaintances. I am humbled by the invitation to be part of the Board at IM4HI during this season of its life. I was healed by getting to know the staff and other board members more deeply.

Throughout this weekend, I could only feel gratitude for the space to be unguarded about my personhood and principles. For those who find themselves outside the mainstream political movements these days, take note and take care. Surround yourselves with people who hear your soul, share your core values, and are driven by unimaginable hope for the future. While the work of justice can often seem overwhelming and hopeless, we must remember that we often embody the hope we long to see in the world. Surround yourself with people who remind you of this reality and rejoice when it occurs.

Also, a special shout-out to the Ahimsa Land, Healing, and Liberation Project for hosting our group. The space definitely facilitated our collective healing.

One of our exercises was to write a letter to ourselves from a descendant seven generations down the road, roughly 150 years. We were invited to write as if our work made a difference. This exercise was meant to remind us that what we were striving for in the world could happen and to trust and believe that all things are possible. In a day and age when people are so driven and stifled by fear, political expediency, and a lack of liberative imagination, I found this exercise profound and inspiring!

Not sure if others will share their letters, but as we shared the breadth and depth of our collective hopes for the world, the air was filled with beauty. Below is my letter from some decent 150 years into the future, my great-great-great-great-grandchild, Cruz.¹

Dear Lolo Bruce,

Is it possible to miss someone you have never met? I think so. I miss all the ancestors introduced to me through family stories, written accounts, random photos, and the indescribable movement of the Spirit. Staring at this picture that has passed through the hands of so many before me, I miss you.

This weekend, I am meeting with a group of holy trouble-makers. You would be proud. We were each asked to bring an item for the ancestor altar to ground our time together. Knowing where we were headed, I remembered this picture of you taken somewhere in the Santa Cruz mountains. After searching through a stack of photos passed down from my Lola, I am pretty sure I am surrounded by the very same redwood grove you were over 150 years ago. Amazingly, it does not look much different; the trees are probably taller, a few more saplings are reaching up toward the sky, and the roads are just as curvy. This place is stunning, and I can’t help but feel you here with me now, once again reveling in its beauty.

We are here continuing the work you and many others did before us. While there is still much to do, much has been achieved since you and your compadres left this earth. I’m writing to you today because we were tasked with writing a letter to our ancestors as we reflect on the state of the world and our lives—so to you, this day, I say thank you.

Thank you for dreaming about the possible when the politics of the day seemed to dismiss endeavors of justice as impossible.

Thank you for screaming, chanting, and organizing in direct disobedience of systems that tried to shame you into silence.

Thank you for embodying hope, new life, and the resurrection in direct resistance to the pressures to let despair, stagnation, and death have the final word.

Because of you and the ancestors and saints with whom you endeavored, seven generations later, the world is indeed a better place:

• We no longer incarcerate our siblings into invisibility.

• National borders have transformed into pathways for the exchange of culture, community, and mutual thriving.

• Militarism and policing are no longer the primary means of dealing with conflict and safety.

• Each member of the Body Politic contributes their fair share and is committed to pursuing the common good for all.

• Building wealth is no longer the main objective of learning and life.

• Joy and flourishing are assumed pursuits of life and work.

• Housing and shelter are available to all who desire it.

• Healthcare is a given for everyone.

• Technology has been harnessed for good.

• Mass shootings are a thing of the past.

• Food is distributed equitably.

• Creation is thriving again.

• I feel known, seen, and loved.

Above all, thank you for staying true to you:

• true to the ancestors before you;

• true to the communities that mattered most to you;

• true to me, your unknown descendent, and your commitment to make the world a better place;

• And true to God’s hopes and intentions for your life and being.

I wish I could meet you in person: to touch your hand to my forehead, share the joys and struggles of daily life, eat with you, laugh with you, embrace you, and know you beyond this one tattered photo.

May I be for my descendants what you have been for yours.

With a love that stretches beyond the limits of human time,
Cruz

1. No one allowed the name Cruz to be placed in the name pool of any of my three children’s names, so today, I speak the name in the ancestral air. In case anyone down the line is stuck on choosing a name, Lolo Bruce has got you :-)