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On Letting Go - to Move Ahead by The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole

It was a distinct honor to have been included in the Easter Sunday homily at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, in Holliston, Mass.

Earlier last week, I was chatting with Sarah—my friend and neighbor—who is otherwise known as The Rev. Sarah Robbins Cole. She told me she was working on her sermon for Easter Sunday, the theme was letting go. I suppose the idea is there cannot be rebirth without letting go of those things that tie us to the past.

"Any thoughts?" she inquired. 

Not missing a chance to plug "Escape from Saigon - a Novel," I mentioned that "letting go" is a theme running loosely throughout the story.  

The struggle with letting go is voiced by Billy Freda, the high school friend, who has to let go of the moment he scored the winning point in the championship game, US Ambassador Graham Martin who cannot let go of South Vietnam that had become intertwined with his identity, the reporters who devoted their youth to covering the war and have to find a new life elsewhere, and of course, the two Vietnam veterans who wrote the book—myself and Michael Morris, who saw combat in the Vietnam War as a young soldier in 1967.

That war ended on April 30, 1975—42 years ago on the last day this month.

Here is what The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole, Rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Holliston, Massachusetts told her congregation about letting go on Easter Sunday Morning 2017.

 

 Easter 2017

Marie Kondo of the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is perhaps one of the best known books that has come our way from the field of decluttering and home organization. If you have not read the book, the basic premise of the book is to get rid of things that do not spark joy. Marie Kondo recommends taking out every item you own, in a particular sequence, and touching each item, and if it does not spark joy – out it goes. She has other helpful hints such as not buying more specialized storage containers to hold yet more clutter, and folding your clothes, for example your shirts, in a way that finding a shirt is as easy as flicking through record albums – because they all are standing on end.

The desire to hold on and to accumulate is as old as time and man. Perhaps it’s because we falsely equate accumulation with security. If I just hang on to clothes, household items, food, photos, books, I will never be in want. Who knows? I might need one of these things later.

Or we mistakenly believe that if we throw things away or recycle them – somehow we won’t remember or value what that item represented.

Or sometimes what is harder is we hold on to emotions and memories - something that has hurt us deeply. Maybe you are holding onto a grudge, or an imaginary contract with someone (that is, unless they do x, I will not forgive, move on, or be nice, etc.,). And somehow letting go would be to admit defeat.

When people have asked me this week what I am preaching on this week – and I tell them that I am working on a sermon about letting go – it has been interesting to hear people’s response.

When I told my neighbor Dick Pirozzolo, who has just published the book, Escape from Saigon - a Novel this year, he said, “funny you should say that”. He is himself a Vietnam Vet, but he said in his research and during his book tour, while he has encountered many veterans who live full and rich lives, he also said that he has met a fair number of veterans who live and breathe their days in Vietnam every day—even though the end of this month will mark the 42nd anniversary of the ending of that war. “After all,” Dick commented, “you are 19 years old, your friends are all back home working in a shoe store, and you are in a strange country, surrounded by people speaking a foreign language, and you are getting shot at.”

But he said, the problem is that what happens to some of us is that we get stuck at 19. Our entire identity is formed around being a Vietnam Veteran and that does not allow a new identity to form. Our lives are dedicated to remembering that time – from the stories we share to the social media platforms we belong to and contribute to.

Another friend of mine, who works with students, said to me, “that is such an important message” because she finds that some of her students cling to ideas, ideologies, and identities in ways that are unhealthy because they perpetuate their sense of being powerless victims in a hostile world.

Or another friend talked about a woman she knew who was the team mom of a volleyball team – and she did everything – she organized uniforms, social events, coaches gifts, the booster club – but at the end of her son’s junior year, at the end of season party, when he was not elected captain by his peers for the following year, she was absolutely devastated. She refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the party and her son never played volleyball again – so attached was she to the idea of her son being captain.

I am sure we all have examples from our own lives - elderly parents who cling to the idea of unrealistic independence, or children who can’t seem to quite realize they have actually reached adulthood, a parent who cannot let go of their adult children, etc., etc.,
The subject of letting go is not just a superficial self-help issue. They are deep spiritual concerns – which come to the very heart of our gospel lesson for this morning. Jesus tells Mary – do not hold on to me. Literally – do not cling to me as I am now. I am yet to ascend to the Father. Jesus is telling her that she must not cling to him because his time on earth is done. And why that is important is that first of all, after the crucifixion they can’t just go back to the way things were – and secondly, the ascension is necessary so that the work of Jesus will no longer be constrained to his little corner of Israel – but will spread to the four corners of the earth.

And it’s not just the idea of the physically present Jesus she is going to have to let go of. If she wants to share in that resurrected life of new life and rebirth – she is going to have to let go of everything that is holding her back – she may have to let go of her anger at the Romans for crucifying Jesus, she may have to have to let go of her feelings of resentment at the disciples for handing Jesus over, betraying Jesus, and falling asleep while Jesus was praying when he very clearly asked them to stay awake. She may have to let go of her bitterness toward a world that allows an innocent man to die. She may have to let go of her wrath toward her own people for their maleficent fickleness – who on Palm Sunday lauded Jesus as King – and then jeered Jesus just a few days later when he really needed them.

But let me be clear - there is a big difference between letting go and forgetting. Letting go – means having a willingness to move forward, to not be stuck in the muck and mire of past wrongs. Forgetting is pretty near impossible, and forgiving can be a very long process indeed.

What we celebrate today is the resurrection. We celebrate that when one thing ends – and when we let go and give it to God, and trust that God will do something good and meaningful and life-giving to that of which we let go – we too will live the resurrected life.

God invites us to new life each and every moment of our lives – not to cling to the past – but to be engaged in our lives right here and right now. It is just as Joseph Campbell, the preeminent expert in comparative mythology and religion who wrote: We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.


Along with being coauthor of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" set during the final days of America's "first television war," Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations, an international communication firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

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The Boston Globe Business Page: What Publicity Seeking CEOs Need to Know

“Our job is not to promote companies or individuals. We’re not here to make people feel good.” Larry Edelman, Boston Globe business editor, told PR pros at the Globe’s soon-to-be-closed newsroom and printing plant on Morrissey Boulevard.

As Edelman explained to Boston Public Relations Society of America members, The Globe no longer focuses on information that is available elsewhere such as stock summations. “We now live or die on exclusive news,” citing the two-hour leg up his paper got on news about GE moving to Boston. The story garnered 125,000 page views during that time period. GE’s Boston decision Edelman added, “had a lot to do with the schools here and tons of talent.”

GE aside, Andrew Caffrey, deputy business editor, told the group, “We used to cover the tall skyscraper figures of business,” such as Fidelity, to which the Globe had two full-time reporters assigned. “Now, younger, up-and-coming local business owners are getting more attention.”

“So much great stuff is going on with small companies,” said Edelman adding that the industry hot buttons for his department are health, life sciences, real estate development, energy and higher education.

For publicity-seeking CEOs other opportunities for exposure exist. High-tech columnist Hiawatha Bray covers the spectrum of technical innovation and Sacha Pfeiffer focuses on philanthropic young entrepreneurs. Five Things is a regular feature on what you need to know about just about everything. Recent Five Things columns covered home interiors and online marketing wiz Larry Kim who founded WordStream.

Like every US paper with ironically named Web presses the length of three football fields and boxy delivery trucks that look they belong in a Gasoline Alley, comic strip, The Boston Globe is carving out its place in a digital world. The Globe continues to produce a print product that has to be tossed on people’s doorsteps before their first cup of coffee or it’ll be hell to pay. That was born out when the Globe’s contract with its home delivery contractor got messed up and the papers didn’t show up. Reporters even volunteered to become carriers.

Despite complaints and cancellations by print edition subscribers, the future is heading away from ink on paper. The number of digital subscribers has been steadily increasing over the past few years and print subscribers are growing older. The Globe editorial staff is moving to downtown Boston and the printing will be done at a facility in Taunton that will offer printing to other publications.

When the trend toward digital news delivery began, The Globe created Boston.com, giving away its content to keep readers in the fold. Eventually the owners made a decision that, online or not, if readers want quality journalism they will have to pay for it. A prime example is the Globe’sSpotlight Team that remains intact despite overall cuts in newsroom staffing. The investigative team inspired the critically acclaimed motion picture Spotlight.

Boston.com has now been cut loose as a separate online publication with its own newsroom staff, collocated with The Globe. The Globe pushes online subscriptions, with readers getting five free stories before a pay wall pops up on their screens offering an introductory paid subscription.

“I ride the trolley and I used to see people reading the paper in the morning. Now their heads are buried in their smart phones. They’re playing games. They’re reading the news,” said Edelman.

Observed Edelman, “We get one million page views between six am and noon,” which is having a big impact on reporters’ lives. Journalists used to amble in in the morning knowing they had until five pm to file their stories for the next day’s edition. “Now they have to come in with a story three quarters written.” They have to “slice and dice,” to file online as the story develops. “The idea now is to get what you know posted online, then add to the story throughout the day with quotes from other sources.”

Sports does the best job of meeting multiple deadlines throughout the day. According to Edelman, this department, “Has fresh stuff all the time. They will get 30 stories out of a Sunday Patriots game. The Business Section needs to work on that.”

For PR folks who represent those CEOs who want to see their companies appear in The Boston Globe, warns Edelman: “When reporters call with questions, speed matters. I’ll get back to you tomorrow is no longer good enough.”

Photo: Larry Edelman, business editor The Boston Globe (c) 2015 Dick Pirozzolo

PR & Crisis Management Pros: Can you handle a SIMAD attack?

At the end of 2015, our financial services industry friends — foreign exchange (forex) brokers, traders, trading platform developers and financial technology companies — were hit by a tsunami of DDoS attacks.

Luckily the DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service attacks that recently shut down more than a few financial and forex trading sites are pretty crude. Says futurist Ted Gordon, “DDoS hackers have been around for a long time. They simply send so much data at one time that they are able to overwhelm the system and bring it, and customer access, to a screeching halt.”

The defense: build a bigger a pipe.

For example, FCM360 (www.fcm360.com), a secure ecommerce network provider and managed cloud hosting service, increased all of its upstream ISP bandwidth to repel attacks of up to 20 Gigabits per second internally.

“Additionally FCM360 contracted with security providers to increase its DDoS prevention capability to over 300 Gigabits per second in New York and London. This means we can withstand and mitigate nearly all current DDoS threats targeting the financial services and e-commerce industry,” says Jubin Pejman managing director

But Gordon, whose clients have included NATO and other international government entities, says that while DDoS attacks can be repelled “by building a bigger pipe, I worry about the future when a sophisticated lone-wolf SIMAD terrorist decides to penetrate the financial sector or the power grid for that matter."

SIMAD stands for Single Individual Massively Destructive.

Gordon, the lead author of “Lone Wolf Terrorism Prospects and Potential Strategies to Address that Threat,” sees us “in a race between the destructive capacity of an individual who can inflict harm on the level of, say, putting out all the lights on the Eastern seaboard, and the tools of detection and interdiction that might be available to thwart such efforts.”

To detect and stop such individuals Gordon believes an algorithm, using data from many different sources, will be developed to asses terrorism risk. The algorithm will produce a “risk number” similar to FICO scores that are based on debt collection and payment information and use a complex formula to determine an individual’s credit risk. “The terrorism database will be much larger, include more factors and, if proven statistically and used cautiously, could serve as a predictor of terrorism risk,” says Gordon.

“The data are likely to use facial recognition in new ways. For example, as someone enters the US, his or her passport photo might be matched to photos from a security camera near a restaurant in Brussels that is a known hangout for terrorists and shows the individual meeting with suspected terrorists.”

He added that law enforcement can also be expected to penetrate trading and ecommerce systems to test for reactions. This can include “fake trades” to learn whether our financial systems can withstand a large scale, sophisticated attack. Sources say TJX, for example, didn’t know its computer system had been breached until the FBI alerted the company. And, even after the company swept its system, hackers were able to leave behind a small bit of undetected code that continued to pirate credit card information.

Though sophistication and risk of devastation may increase, motivations will remain pretty much the same: “Greed, terror, or just proving one can break in to cause embarrassment,” says Gordon.

What does this mean for  the public relations advisor and crisis manager?

As PR pros we have to be astute observers of the shifting balance between organizational transparency, access, civil liberties, and public safety. In times of stress or fear the pendulum can swing toward putting safety above constitutional protections. PR pros need to caution clients against overreach. When the pendulum swings back the organization will face legal and public perception backlash.

One of the most fragile and perhaps outdated systems we have is the power grid. Could terrorists or foreign power take down our electric grid, as Ted Koppel speculates in a new book, Lights Out: A Cyberattack, a Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath. Despite our best efforts to protect our own systems and data, an attack against the power grid will eventually bring down all our access to information and communication.

Think low tech too.

While you may have set up terrific communication systems that take full advantage of twitter and other social media outlets to instantly respond to customer concerns, community worries and employee needs, what do you do if the power grid is down or your data center is flooded? Make sure your disaster plan includes essential elements. Maintain a paper notebook with key political, senior management and media phone numbers and addresses. Establish a prearranged off-site meeting place for management and essential employees in the event of a major disaster. Make sure folks know how to initiate a pyramid alert plan. Have at least one hardwired phone that does not depend on an outside source of electricity as phone lines may be operative during an outage.

Pirozzolo Company Public Relations advises: one of the biggest mistakes corporate chiefs make during a disaster is to respond to media questions that are outside the scope of the organization's responsibility. If the building is ablaze, flooded, or a violent crime has been committed on premises or the FBI is investigating a cyber attack, let public safety and law enforcement officials respond to the immediate media questions. There will be ample time for a thoughtful response to the media on how the company will recover and what protections will be put in place to prevent a recurrence. Learn some simple deflections such as, "The FBI is involved, and we do not want to jeopardize their investigation," or "Let's focus on the fire department getting the blaze under control, I'm glad all out people got out without injury," or, "An arrest has just occurred and, in the interest of protecting the privacy of our employees, please direct your questions to  local law enforcement."

“Lone Wolf Terrorism Prospects,” by Ted Gordon, Elizabeth Florescu, and Yair Sharan, is available in paperback at Amazon.com or as a downloadable PDF file at www.lonewolfthreat.com.

Cyber Threats to Intensify Says "Cyber Security 2016" Report from Boston Global Forum

“While cyber-security measures continue to evolve positively, cyber threats from crime, terrorism, militarization, espionage, and censorship will continue or worsen in 2016.”

That’s how Boston Global Forum sees the future of cybersecurity in a just-published report titled “Cyber Security 2016” aimed at helping government, business leaders and individuals effectively deal with increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyber threats.

Cyber Security 2016 was published to coincide with the first annual Global Cybersecurity Day, to be held each year starting at noon, December 12 or 12-12-12. As part of the first Global Cybersecurity Day, policy makers, scholars and experts convened at Harvard University to air latest cyber security issues and announce publication of Cyber Security 2016.

“Conflict over cyber security will increase between the West and the states and criminals from which cyber threats emanate." This includes individual and terrorist groups from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina, and many developing countries, according to the report.

“Increasing technical sophistication and vulnerabilities in infrastructure, military systems, industrial control systems, the internet of things (LoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and mobile platforms will increase opportunities for states, criminals, and thrill-seekers to discover zero-day vulnerabilities and benefit from cyber tactics. 

“Individualized encryption and the use of crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin will continue to facilitate anonymous crime and terrorism, and thereby complicate the cyber-security landscape in 2016.” 

The report calls for a number of solutions including secure backdoors for legitimate governance and additional regulation of crypto-currencies.

For the individuals, business owners and professionals, the same advice still applies: practice good cyber hygiene. That means changing passwords frequently and, despite warnings to the contrary, do not use obvious passwords such as “1234” and birthdays. Though most folks say it can’t happen to me, savvy Internet users still get duped into responding to email requests for bank account and Social Security numbers.

Corr Analytics of New York contributed to the writing of this report. Corr Analytics was founded in 2013 and provides analysis to media, nonprofit and business clients, with a focus on strategic and international political risk. 

A complete copy of the 40-page Cyber Security 2016 report may be downloaded at: 2016 Report 

As part of the Global Cybersecurity Day program at Harvard, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung were named World Leaders for Peace, Security and Development and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received the World Leader in Cyberspace Award. For Prime Minister Abe’s acceptance speech click here. Consul General Tsutomu Himeno accepted the award on behalf of Prime Minister Abe from gov. Michal Dukakis, co-founder of Boston Global Forum.

Global Cybersecurity Day was created to inspire the shared responsibility of the world’s citizens to protect the Internet’s safety and transparency. As part of this initiative, Boston Global Forum also calls upon citizens of goodwill to follow it's Ethics Code of Conduct for Cyber Peace and Security (ECCC). 

You may also be interested in Dick Pirozzolo's article:  DDOS Attacks Threaten Foreign Currency Exchange in E-Forex Magazine.

Boston Global Forum, a think tank, with ties to Harvard University faculty, includes noted scholars, business leaders and prominent journalists among its leadership.