McGreevey Makes "The Confession"

Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, and The View to promote his new book The Confession. Remember that McGreevey announced "I am a gay American" on August 13, 2004 and resigned from the office of governor after admitting to an abuse of power. He said he'd hired Golan Cipel, an Israeli man who he contends was his lover, as a special adviser to the Governor. McGreevey claims Cipel turned on him, blackmailing him with exposure of the affair.

Aside from the expected discussions about a married man who cheated on his wife, and the voyeuristic aspects of a gay affair, there were a couple of things he said that stood out from the rest.

"This is my tribe," he said when talking about his sense of belonging to the gay community. An interesting statement. Of course, we all identify with many tribes. We identify with people that share our national heritage. Our race. Our gender. Our sexual orientation. Our hair color. Our sense of humor. In the current global climate, we might identify with a religion. A particular denomination. A select congregation. A specific preacher. The possibilities are endless. The irony is that there's an infinite number of ways to define.

At our core and in the most basic sense, we're all human. The master tribe to which each and every one of us belong. But our minds constantly seek to understand where everything in the universe fits in. We create categories, "boxes" into which everything can be sorted and neatly arranged for our mind to rapidly identify how it relates to ourselves and the world, and how we and the world relate to it. Not only do we define ourselves, but we define others.

McGreevey also used a metaphor to describe a way in which we can all view the challenges in our lives. I'll have to paraphrase since I am recounting this from memory. He sought spiritual guidance and the church elder told him, "Through the cracks in the chalice shines the light of wisdom." Yes, just when cracks begin to appear in our carefully formed personal façades, the cracks can represent ruin or they can present an opportunity for understanding and correction. It is the individual who chooses what path they take.