I suppose we’ve all had experiences where we’ve felt out of bounds. I don’t mean stepping out of bounds while playing a game, or slicing a golf ball across two fairways. I mean taking an action, or stating an opinion that is looked upon with disfavor. During my years in human services and education, there were times I spoke against the status quo and the authority that held the power and suffered some consequences. No jail time, but I’d stirred a pot which was not to be stirred.

In its now 40-year history, Western Colorado Alliance (formerly Western Colorado Congress) has stirred some pots and continues to do so. While being looked upon with disfavor by some, we’ve numerous allies, members, and supporters that stir the pot right along with us toward the creation of healthy, just, and self-reliant communities. That’s what makes this 40-year journey so amazing.

Given my relatively short time with our Alliance, I am no expert on the organization’s history, nor can I claim to have a real sense of what the journey of the “founding humans” was like.

I can say that in 2020, we’ll continue to stir those pots and perhaps travel out of bounds a bit, having firmed up our foundation with renewed mission and vision statements, a platform that guides our work based on our values, a growing professional staff, and committed board members and members alike. It will also be a year in which we celebrate 40 years of inspired community organizing. And with that, I leave you with a poem written by Founding Human Chuck Worley, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 98:

“Out of Bounds”
(from Poems in Prison 1945-1947
by a Conscientious Objector to the Good War)

You who by the grace of law go free
walk by spongy springs
and load your lungs up with the smell of things
for me.
And when dawn
yawns
and silver noises dribble from her wings
gather up such nuggets as free fall.
You who are still in luck
dig your itching fingers deep in muck
and wash your eyes with all that’s fresh and green.
Summer finds me out of bounds this year…
but conscience clean.

Permission to publish “Out of Bounds” was graciously provided by Speak4Peace Publishing. Learn more about their efforts to support “living with conscience” at speak4peace.com.