The Wild Reed

Wednesday, November 04, 2026

In Minnesota, Greens Secure “Minor Party” Status

Last night I joined with candidates, supporters and friends of the Green Party of Minnesota at Pryes Brewing Company to watch the midterm election results come in. I have to say it was very satisfying to see Trump and his fascist agenda get so thoroughly repudiated by voters all across the country.

Above (from left): Seth Kuhl-Stennes, Green Party candidate for Secretary of State; Ngone Niang, Green Party candidate for State Senate, District 39; Cam Gordon, co-founder of the Green Party of Minnesota; and Jane Kirby, Green Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Right: Green Party candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Steve Young and Jane Kirby.

For a June 2026 interview with Steve and Jane, click here.

The Green Party of Minnesota is a people-powerd party dedicated to building a more affordable, sustainable, and democratic North Star state. We had six candidates on the ballot in yesterday’s midterm elections. Along with the candidates mentioned above, there were two others: Bruce Johnson for Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District 4; and Rachel Braaten for Three Rivers Park Board, District 3.

I voted yesterday morning before work. Given where I live in south Minneapolis, I could only vote for three of the six Minnesota Green Party candidates who were running – Steve and Jane for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and Seth for Secretary of State. I voted for all three of them.

Although all our candidates campaigned strongly over the last six months, none of them won their races yesterday. As disappointing as this was, we did receive enough votes to gain minor party status under Minnesota law (more about this below). In addition, we were definitely heartened by the thorough troussing received by Republicans across the country, resulting in their loss of control in both the House and the Senate in the U.S. Congress.

Following is a statement shared on social media earlier today by Jane Kirby, Green Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

We got over 50,000 votes.

Our message of human and animal liberation, ending war and genocide, protecting our sacred Water and habitats and prosecuting the criminal federal thugs terrorizing our communities resonated with Minnesotans in every county in the state. We received 1.82 percent of the votes, with almost no money at all. We didn’t buy your support. We showed you a reasonable, sustainable and just plan of action. The Green Party has always been for universal healthcare, education and housing. It is the least we can do for each other.

Electing someone who wasted millions of dollars to attack their opponent and shine up their morally repugnant record of status quo racism, war mongering, and doing the bidding of the corrupt pedophiles is not the lesser of two evils. It’s just evil.

Peace be with you all, and may we continue to take care of each other, loving our dear neighbors without distinction.

Jane notes that the Green Party received 1.82 percent of the votes in yesterday’s midterm elections. This means that, as at other times in our history, we now qualify as a minor political party in Minnesota (a status that will be officially certified in the next few weeks).

A minor party qualifies for campaign subsidies under the state income tax checkoff and can issue political contribution refund receipts. A minor party does not have, however, any of the other rights and privileges of major parties.

According to state election laws, in order for a political party to receive minor party status, at least one candidate “must have received votes in each county” and “in total, the candidate must have received votes equaling at least 1% of the total number of individual votes cast in the election.”

Minnesota law also states that: “A party whose candidate meets these requirements becomes a minor party as of January 1 following that election and retains such status for at least two consecutive general elections, even if the party fields a candidate who does not win the requisite votes. If the party fails in each of two consecutive general elections to field a candidate who meets these requirements, however, the party will lose minor party status as of December 31 following the latter of the two elections.”

We intend holding onto our minor party status and building upon it in the years to come.

If you’d like to join us in this endeavor, click here

“Look for My Light in All Your Circumstances”

A spiritual resource that many of my Christian patients find particularly meaningful is Sarah Young’s devotional, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. It’s a collection of daily reflections written as if Jesus himself is speaking directly to us. They are words of encouragement, comfort, and reassurance based on Jesus’ own words of hope, guidance, and peace found in Scripture.

Now, I should say that as a pilgrim on the Sufi Way, a student of A Course in Miracles, and someone who defines their spiritual path as grounded in the “mystico/prophetic” tradition, I don’t share every theological understanding espoused by Sarah Young. For instance, I don’t view the Bible as “the only inspired, inerrant, unchanging Word of God.” Rather, I see the Bible as the word of humans about their experience of the sacred in their lives; as one source of wisdom and beauty among many that seek to document and explore such experiences – experiences that, in many cases, continue to unfold. I also don’t share Young’s atonement theology, believing instead that it is Jesus’ life and message that “saves us,” not his death willed by an angry and violent God. That all being said, I still find much meaning and beauty in Young’s writing.

One of her follow-up books to Jesus Calling is Jesus Always: Embracing Joy in His Presence. It’s also a collection of daily reflections based on the words of Scripture. Although I’ve used Jesus Always less frequently with my patients, I’ve discovered in its pages some reflections that greatly resonate with me. Following is one of them. It’s inspired by Habakkuk 3:18 and 1:6-7; Psalm 107:21-22; and Psalm 100:2.

_______________

I have good intentions for you. They may by radically different from what you hoped or expected, but they are nonetheless good. I am Light; in Me there is no darkness at all. So look for My Light in all your circumstances. I am abundantly present in your moments. Your purpose is to be open to Me and My ways with you. Sometimes this requires relinquishing things you had planned or dreamed. You need to remember and wholeheartedly trust that My way is perfect, no matter how hard it is.

I am a shield for all who take refuge in Me. When you’re feeling afflicted or afraid, come to Me and say: “Jesus, I take refuge in You.” I don’t shield you from things I intend for you to deal with, for you have an important part to play in this world. However, I protect you from more dangers and troubles than you can imagine. So make every effort to live the life I have given to you. Do this in joyful dependence on Me, and your soul will be richly satisfied.

Tuesday, November 03, 2026

Something to Think About . . .

Related Off-site Links:
U.S. Voters Head to the Polls with Control of Congress in the Balance – Associated Press (November 3, 2026).
“Deeply Alarming”: Hours Before Midterm Elections, Trump Bombs Iran’s Qeshm Island – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).
“Democracy Itself Is on the Ballot”: Voters Weigh 150+ Ballot Initiatives, from Wealth Tax to Abortion – Democracy Now! (November 3, 2026).
As Americans Head to the Polls, Here Are the Billionaires Trying to Buy the 2026 Midterms – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).
Latino Voters Swing Away from Trump for “Terrorizing Our Communities”: Marisa Franco of Mijente – Democracy Now! (November 3, 2026).
Bernie Sanders Calls for “Fundamental and Immediate Reform” to Democratic Party If It Wins Elections – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).
Democratic Socialists on the Rise: Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez Set to Win House Seats – Democracy Now! (November 3, 2026).
Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Your Undocumented Neighbors Won’t Be Voting, But You Can – Will Bunch (The Philadelphia Inquirer via Common Dreams, November 3, 2026).

UPDATES: Abdul El-Sayed Becomes First Muslim Senator as Democrats Rout GOP Across the U.S. in Rebuke to Trump – Democracy Now! (November 4, 2026).
Trump’s Endless Lies, Deceit, Cruelty, and Corruption Comes Crashing Down – Bradley Blankenship (Common Dreams, November 4, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “It’s Very Clear That Something Is Brewing”
• A Spirited Exchange on Voting
• “On to the General!”
• Politics 101

Monday, November 02, 2026

Quote of the Day

A lot of people are saying, “when the rubber hits the road, liberals will always choose fascism over democratic socialism.”

While I agree with this in general, it doesn’t apply with Haley Stevens jumping ship to support Mike Rogers. Keep in mind that plenty of neoliberal, warmongering shitheads like Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Jim Clyburn, James Carville, etc. still support Abdul El-Sayed. That’s because El-Sayed isn’t a socialist at all (not by his policies or self-description), and isn’t really an anti-Zionist either. The American political scene is just so fucked up that anyone with normal liberal politics in any other country is considered “radical” in the U.S.

I guarantee that if there were an actual threat to capitalist order in the U.S., all the major Democrats – including the “progressive” ones – would link arms with the GOP to protect their property rights. Stevens’ defection is not about maintaining capitalist order – it’s just rank opportunism and careerism.

– Ben Marenlensky
via Facebook
November 2, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Candidate in Michigan Senate Race, Spurning Abdul El-Sayed – Sam Gringlas and Barbara Sprunt (NPR News, November 2, 2026).
El-Sayed’s Primary Opponent Stuns Democrats by Endorsing Republican Opponent in Michigan Senate Race – Joey Cappelletti, Corey Williams, and Mike Householder, (Associated Press via PBS Newshour, November 1, 2026).

UPDATE: Abdul El-Sayed Defeats Mike Rogers Despite Haley Stevens Drama – CK Smith (Salon, November 4, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Abdul El-Sayed: The Disruptor Michigan (and the Country) Needs
• Why the American Political Establishment Is Panicking
• Four Political Commentaries Worth Viewing
• Abdul El-Sayed and the “Unforgivable Rehabilitation” of Kamala Harris

Sunday, November 01, 2026

Photo of the Day

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Kyrie and Penny
• An Inquisitive Little Visitor
• Sleepy Eddie and Wide-Awake Ziggy
• Photo of the Day – October 27, 2012
• Photo of the Day – April 4, 2012
• Photo of the Day – July 15, 2010

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Saturday, October 31, 2026

“It’s Very Clear That Something Is Brewing”

I think most of us here in the U.S. sense that in the political sphere, something indeed is brewing. I appreciate how Marianne Williamson writes about this without fear-mongering or going into panic mode.

Following (with added links) is an excerpt from her latest Substack post.

Our democracy, and at this point the security of our country, is threatened by a cabal of people deeply unworthy of the power they now hold in this country. This isn’t a moment to further analyze how we got here, however; it’s a moment to analyze where things have to go from here. Democrats gaining back the House and Senate will be a powerful win, if it occurs, but it in no way means that all our problems will be over. First of all, should that occur we have no idea what President Trump’s response would be. Many speculate he would become apoplectic, doing anything from suing State election officials to seizing ballot boxes and voting machines to even declaring martial law and seeking to interrupt the certification process. It’s long past time when any reasonable person should assume the rule of law means anything to Donald Trump. In his mind, the highest law is himself.

[. . .] Somehow, someday, we will get through this dangerous period.

Whether it will be sooner or it will be later, I do not know. But we should start articulating now what we want on the other side of it. Christopher Life, founder of United Independents, has said the values which should guide all policy decisions – independent of the limitations and biases of either major political party – are the following: 1) to prevent harm; 2) to reduce human suffering; 3) to increase the quality of life; and 4) to steward well the natural world. I could not agree more.

Having had my own experiences trying to articulate a more enlightened politics, I received regularly the mockery of those who run the political game as it now exists. Notice that to them it is a game, while to us it is our lives. It was said repeatedly that I was naive to think we could shift our political bottom line from corporate profits (in this case, the profits of war manufacturers) to humanitarian and democratic values. I said then, and I say now, that what’s naive is to think we will survive another hundred years on this planet if we don’t at least try.

We’re more than playing with fire at this point. The fire is already burning. May there be a concomitant fire within ourselves, as beginning now we rise to the challenges of this moment, preparing for next Tuesday, engaged on that day and every day thereafter in whatever way conscious citizenship demands.

The Pentagon has instructed major U.S. military bases to prepare to be able to function independently for ninety days. Several Western countries have warned their citizens to keep 3 to 10 days worth of survival supplies on hand in case of major disruptions. It’s very clear that something is brewing. Some believe that in the event of an all out war, the President might shut down the power grid to prevent Iran (or anyone else) from being able to attack it.

When reading about the Cuban missile crisis we learn there were people around Khrushchev, as well as Kennedy, pretty much gunning for nuclear confrontation between Russia and the United States. Yet there were also those around both of them who more than anything were citizens of the world, successfully advising both leaders to come back from the brink of nuclear war. Had the champions of brute force prevailed, it’s possible that none of us would be here today.

I was ten years old during the Cuban missile crisis, and I remember my parents glued to the TV news one night as events unfolded. I remember the seriousness of the looks on their faces, and one of them saying that we might go to war. I remember when my mother saw me standing at the door she said, “What are you doing up, Marianne? Say your prayers honey and go back to bed.”

Once again we’re in this terrible place, where the purveyors of war are on an outrageous rampage. In so many ways we’ve simply circled back to where this country has a habit of finding itself far too often. But I’m not ten years old anymore, and neither are you. Our mission now isn’t to pray and go back to bed. Our mission is to pray and wake up.

– Marianne Williamson
Excerpted from “To War or Not to War”
Transform
October 31, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
How Trump and His Allies Seek to Interfere in the U.S. Midterm Elections – Sam Levine (The Guardian, October 31, 2026).
The Pentagon and Britain Are Bracing for the Power to Go Out – Sydney Lake (Fortune, October 30, 2026).
What We Know About the Pentagon’s FORTRESS Initiative to Keep Military Bases Running Off-Grid – Laerke Christensen (Snopes, October 26, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reeds posts:
• Choosing to Awaken
• “A Very Insightful and Constructive Discussion”
• Marianne Williamson on Staying Grounded Amidst the Chaos

October Vignettes

Hallowtide Musings

As Samhain approaches, we arrive at one of the most sacred turning points on the Wheel of the Year.

Long before Halloween became a celebration of costumes and candy, Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. The fields had given what they could. The animals were brought in, food was stored, and families prepared for the long, dark months ahead.

It was also a time of remembrance. In ancient Gaelic tradition, this turning of the year was associated with the Otherworld, when the boundary between the living and the dead was believed to grow thin.

I find something beautiful in the way our ancestors understood these transitions. They lived close enough to the rhythms of the earth to recognize that darkness was not something to fear, but a necessary part of the cycle.

Samhain invites us to consider what we've gathered, what we've lost, and what we wish to carry forward. To honor those whose lives made our own possible, and to recognize that not everything is meant to flourish in every season.

There is wisdom in knowing when to harvest, when to release, and when to rest.

May this turning of the year find you grateful for what has sustained you and gentle with yourself about what must be left behind.

~ Ella
via Rebel Thriver
October 30, 2026

Samhain means “summer’s end” It is a gateway between the half-year of light and the half-year of dark. On this day the veil between the worlds thins. The lower astral realms walk close, ancestors visit, and spirit guidance comes through more easily. That’s why families set an empty place at the table for their departed. It’s also why people wore masks (dressed up): so wandering spirits wouldn’t recognise them.

The Church marked All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) right on top of Samhain, and Asia has the Hungry Ghost month. Across the world, humanity knows this season as the time to honour the dead. That isn’t coincidence. The gateway is real, and every tradition found it.

The true meaning of Samhain is death before rebirth. The harvest is in, the fields go bare, and nature lets go. It asks you to do the same: let the old self die so the new year can begin.

~ Jodi Childs
via Facebook
October 31, 2026

What if we brought reverence back into Halloween?

Learning about and teaching the roots of ancestral holidays that capitalism has twisted is a responsibility we owe to our children.

And not only to our children but to our earth – honoring ancestors.

Educate yourself. And start where you are curious. . . . If you have living relatives, who remember the stories of your people, go and record them! Trace your Roots.

Put out photos. Light candles. Speak to your ancestors. Place a small portion of your meal on an ancestor plate to feed them.

It doesn’t matter where you start. . . . Just start where you can, and the ritual will expand with each year.

Let’s raise a generation of children who know how to honor the ones that prayed for their lives.

~ Wakeful Nature
via Facebook
October 27, 2026

The dead are not distant or absent. They are alongside us. When we lose someone to death, we lose their physical image and presence, they slip out of visible form into invisible presence. This alteration of form is the reason we cannot see the dead. But because we cannot see them does not mean that they are not there. Transfigured into eternal form, the dead cannot reverse the journey and even for one second re-enter their old form to linger with us a while. Though they cannot reappear, they continue to be near us and part of the healing of grief is the refinement of our hearts whereby we come to sense their loving nearness. When we ourselves enter the eternal world and come to see our lives on earth in full view, we may be surprised at the immense assistance and support with which our departed loved ones have accompanied every moment of our lives. In their new, transfigured presence their compassion, understanding and love take on a divine depth, enabling them to become secret angels guiding and sheltering the unfolding of our destiny.

~ John O’Donohue
From Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
Harper Perennial (2005)

Make sure you do not let tonight pass without pausing. Samhain is the night the old year ends and the new one begins, and the veil between worlds is said to be at its thinnest. Make sure you step away from your phone. Make sure you light a candle. Make sure you sit in the quiet for a few minutes and let yourself feel how far you have come this year. Tonight is not about doing more. It is about stopping long enough to hear what your intuition has been trying to tell you.

Tonight, make sure you say out loud what you are leaving behind in the old year. Make sure you thank it. Then make sure you say what you are calling into the new one, clearly and without apologizing for wanting it.

Pay attention to the thoughts, signs, and dreams that arrive tonight, because they are not random.. And tomorrow, the 1/11/1 portal opens a fresh beginning, so make sure you go into it lighter.

Release tonight. Receive tomorrow.

Your new years starts in the dark, and it was always meant to. Trust.

~ The Spiritual Magic
via Facebook
October 31, 2026

Samhain is here . . . and darkness falls.

Traditionally, Samhain is a time of divination, of communicating with absent friends or the deepest parts of ourselves, the still silent waters in our spirits. . . . The water of Samhain is motionless, reflective, and we can look into its mirrored surface and see all the mysteries that lay beyond life. At Samhain, the past year finally slips away, and with one last breath we close our eyes . . . only to open them again at another time, another place, another life.

Water is usually associated with the west, the land of sunset, and Samhain is the moment when the sun’s last rays disappear behind the horizon and twilight drops its misty veil. We can look behind the veil and see things that were hidden by the light of day.

– Dianne Sylvan
Excerpted from The Circle Within”
Llewellyn Publications (2003)

The Wild Reed

Wednesday, November 04, 2026

In Minnesota, Greens Secure “Minor Party” Status

“Look for My Light in All Your Circumstances”

Tuesday, November 03, 2026

Something to Think About . . .

Monday, November 02, 2026

Quote of the Day

Sunday, November 01, 2026

Photo of the Day

Saturday, October 31, 2026

“It’s Very Clear That Something Is Brewing”

October Vignettes

Hallowtide Musings

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