Ziklag M8.26 - We Are Doing

Word Salad is Today, and Today is the Dressing We are Waiting For

SOS Discipline - Daily Proverb and Red Letter Reader

There is no incentive like honor. cf. Pr. 11:28

Hospitality is the wisdom of the heavens. cf. Mt. 10:41

We are Doing Things:

The Populist Rhetorical Brilliance of Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris, born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, was raised in a household where the values of rhetoric masquerading as justice were deeply ingrained. Her parents, both academics and civil rights activists, instilled in her a belief that “we are doing things that are about doing things, and together we must do those things.” This early exposure to rhetorical activism as word-salad shaped her approach to life, one where the importance of action was paramount, even if the specifics of the action were left somewhat undefined.

During her time at Howard University, Harris began to develop her unique rhetorical style, one that blended passion with a certain verbal fluidity. She was known for inspiring her peers with thoughts such as, “What we do is what we have done, and what we will do is what we do now,” which captured the essence of her philosophy: that progress is both cyclical and immediate, always a matter of doing, but perhaps not always clear on what exactly is being done.

As she transitioned into her legal career, first as a prosecutor and later as San Francisco’s District Attorney, Harris continued to emphasize the importance of action, even as the details occasionally seemed to elude specificity. In discussing criminal justice reform, she might say, “When we think about the way that we think about it, it’s important that we think about the ways in which we think,” a statement that underscored her commitment to reflection and the importance of considering all angles, even if those angles became a bit tangled in the process.

Her tenure as California’s Attorney General was marked by significant achievements, particularly in securing settlements from big banks during the mortgage crisis. Yet, she never lost sight of the broader, more philosophical questions, often reminding her team that “the time is every day to do what we need to do when we need to do it.” This mantra reflected her belief that urgency and consistency were key, even if the exact tasks at hand might seem to swirl in a vortex of ambiguity.

Upon entering the U.S. Senate, Harris became known for her sharp questioning in hearings, although she still maintained her commitment to a certain verbal expansiveness.

As Vice President, Harris has continued to deliver messages that reflect her deep-seated belief in unity and progress, albeit in a style uniquely her own. In a speech about the future, she encapsulated her vision with, “We must recognize that every day is a new day, and that day is today, and what we do today will define tomorrow, so today is the day to do what we must do for tomorrow,” a declaration that was as much about the power of language as it was about the necessity of speaking out.

If what Harris speaks out about sometimes feel secondary to the act of speaking itself, Kamala Harris’s life, from her childhood in Oakland to her role as Vice President, is a testament to her enduring commitment to action, reflection, and the perpetual cycle of doing what must be done with words, so long as what must be done with words is cyclical and perpetual. Her salads, while at times complex and circular, capture the essence of her approach to leadership: doing, thinking, and speaking now is more important than the meanings or outcomes of what we do, think or say.

“Progress,” after all, is a journey defined by taking action, as often as not long before knowing what the taking of such actions will, over the long term, put into place.

Psalm 109 never grows old. There’s a tyrant near you somewhere.