See Red: Let Minnesota's Heart Swell Your Own
Courage is contagious, and it's powered by love
The phrase “seeing red” has been aligned with anger for a long time. I’m proposing we reclaim it — during a time that we’re all needing courage more than ever — to mean, instead, “inspiration for courage.”
Red is the color of the heart. And the heart is the center of any courage we might have. Let’s talk more about how we might embody courage, together — and inspire each other so it grows and spreads.
Learning: A Lesson for You
Today I’m starting by sharing a story with you — one I didn’t write myself.
This story is from a person who is new to me, but who I already admire. Not only is he the chaplain for our local NBA team, the Minnesota Timberwolves. I mean, how cool is that gig?! But he’s also apparently an artist? And a talented one at that!
And… he’s clearly a person we all can learn a thing or two from about how to live and move through our lives with integrity… and courage.
And here is what Matt had to say:
A few weeks after the start of the Metro Surge, I lost a major art commission from an outstate patron who said they were uncomfortable with “how our city is behaving right now,” and with my refusal to stay quiet while my people are hurting.
I was livid, to be honest, and even considered driving north to hand-deliver my anger like a casserole nobody asked for but everybody would smell.
Instead though, I saved gas, I went back to the studio, and spent a couple of days painting this cardinal.
I painted another cardinal a few weeks back, and put some words with that one as well. In those words, I spoke about the feral sermon in his feathers, the red that refuses to RSVP, the color that doesn’t knock so much as kick the door open and ask why survival keeps getting called controversial.
That first cardinal taught me that red is not as much decoration as it is an alarm. Red is what shows up when truth runs out of synonyms. This new one feels different though. Sharper. Or more present, at least.
This one feels like it has been watching armored vehicles idle outside apartment buildings, watching families rehearse contingency plans the way families in the burbs rehearse vacation packing lists.
Here is what I’m learning as this cardinal came to be in the midst of our city holding its breath:
If you cannot stand on your convictions, you are posturing and not standing at all. You are hovering somewhere between comfort and cowardice, mistaking approval for oxygen. Convictions are load-bearing. They are the beams that hold the roof up when helicopters circle low enough to make prayer feel like whispering into a siren.
And yes — absolutely, named it at the top — standing costs you things. Sometimes said things are commissions. Other times said things are invitations and being liked by people who only loved the version of you that never required them to witness suffering up close. But anything you keep by abandoning yourself was never yours to begin with.
The cardinal knows this to be true. This bird does not tone itself down when winter arrives. It doesn’t consult first with the snow to see if visibility is still appropriate right now. It only gets louder. An embodied exclamation mark existing in a paragraph written entirely in frost.
And so, in that spirit of the cardinal that cuts across the grey of winter, here’s my ask:
Stop auditioning your integrity for audiences who call terror “policy” because it doesn’t live on their block. You do not owe your glow to anyone who benefits from your dimming. You do not have to survive by becoming swallowable. You are allowed to be the color that interrupts the weather the colorless drag in.
Now is the time to take an inconvenient stand.
Be the cardinal.
Be the siren.
Be the impossible red that refuses to apologize for reminding winter that it has never once been permanent.
What a beautiful call to action — and to courage.
We are all being called to courage right now.
And do you know the root word of courage?
Heart.
So.
What does that mean?
Essentially, it means this: if you let your heart lead you — powered by everything it most loves and cares about — it will lead you straight into one courageous act after another.
This is the source of all the inspirational things you’ve been seeing Minnesotans do. There is nothing special about Minnesotans, other than the fact that we genuinely care about each other and are accustomed to sharing with each other, showing up for each other, helping each other.
We see the collective in our collective here.
We know that no one gets through our winters alone.
We love our neighbors here.
Historically, that has meant that we bake them hotdishes and drop them off at their homes when they’re sick. Or we shovel them out and throw down our cat litter when their wheels are spinning on ice. Or we give our dollars when we hear they’re struggling to meet their needs.
And what else does that mean?
Well, it means something else that we’re all just starting to really learn for ourselves, as we face one of the biggest collective threats we’ve ever seen: we’ll risk a lot for our neighbors here.
As you’ve seen, some of us will even lay down our lives for our neighbors.
And I’m amazed by that, as a person who was raised Christian. Like, wow. When I was taught that Jesus told us to “lay down our lives for our friends,” I didn’t ever think that would be literal! But for some here in Minnesota, it has been. And because of this, I am understanding Christian love on a level I never have before — just from living through this harrowing, intense experience, surrounded by thousands of neighbors who have resolved themselves to love — truly love — their neighbors.
This is the way.
This is the way…
… not to martyrdom, or to suffering, as you might fear…
… but to joy.
You may see our suffering only, if you don’t understand the joy we’ve all discovered amidst this struggle — the joy of being a part of something bigger than ourselves, the joy of love, the joy of being in community.
You can experience this too.
The beauty of this gift is that it’s available to any of us, to all of us. We only need to let our love grow so big and powerful that it overcomes any fear we may have. And suddenly, life starts looking a lot different.
Take it slow.
Or go fast, if you prefer that.
This is entirely your choice.
But I highly encourage you to at least try.
Listen to your heart.
Let it love the way it loves.
And let its love lead you.
Give yourself over to that love...
… and you’ll find the courage you need...
… to do whatever you need to do.
And then, no matter what happens?
You’ll know love.
You’ll know joy.
You’ll know the best parts of what it is to be human.
💗
Your community is waiting for you! Advice when you need it. Been-there, done-thats. Commiseration. Support. A place to vent. Guidance and mentoring. All of this, and more, is what I anticipate happening at Community-Weaving for Fundraisers.
Just fundraisers. Gathering for (virtual) lunch together. Twice a month. Year-round. Chatting and supporting each other via WhatsApp in between lunches. Being there for each other. All you need to do is show up, be present. I guide, facilitate, organize, and create the container.
The Waiting List is open now. Get on it!
Conversation: Your Response
Got more to say? Visit the comments section!
Wanna show up for residents of Minnesota who have now been feeling under siege for many weeks… and are seeing no end in sight? Be the wind beneath our wings! My brilliant friend Ashley created this website: Stand With Minnesota. There you’ll find opportunities to support mutual aid… crowdfunding campaigns… nonprofits working on the ground… and even real-life testimonies about what has been happening here.
You’ll find love. And you’ll find courage.
Because those two things are what have been powering us all through this most difficult time in our shared life together.
Also, I’m calling out a specific campaign raising emergency rental assistance for families who 1) have a kid in early childhood special education; and 2) haven’t been able to work because of the occupation of our city. These families are at risk for eviction if we cannot help them pay their rent ASAP and, according to my organizing buds, this particular group seems to have fallen through all the other cracks (i.e. they are not connected to other sources of support):
Practice: Make It Yours
Today we’re reflecting on courage.
On heart.
On love.
And we’re realizing — thanks to Matt Moberg’s courage and love and teaching — that seeing red in our environment, such as when a beautiful red cardinal flits nearby us, is a way to root ourselves into the courage we need in that moment.
Let’s practice this connection.
Let’s use anything red we can see around us.
Keep your eyes out.
Be ready.
See a red door? See a red hat, scarf, or mittens? See a red shirt or coat? See a red car? See a red cardinal flying or landing near you?
Whenever you see red like this, it’s time to get quiet within your being, connect with your truest self, and ask that self these questions:
➡️ What do I love more than anything right now?
➡️ How will my love express itself through my body today?
Be the color that interrupts the weather the colorless drag in, as Matt says.
Be heart.
Be love.
Feel your being reaching out towards whatever it loves… and feel that reaching stretch how much love you can contain… until you start to feel like you would do anything for that love.
Inspiration: Something to Reflect On
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
— Maya Angelou
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