As I sit weighing all the different points of view, like that of Joan Baez, of spiritual leaders, of venture capitalists and everyday Joe's, they all make some valid points. But there is this voice below the surface, this quiet angst longing to be unearthed and expressed. It’s a young voice … maybe with a tiny bit of tremble in it but it is real, as real as it gets.
It’s the voice of the early grade school me, the one dressed in a plaid uniform, who stood up and recited “The Pledge of Allegiance “ and “The Our Father” at the start of every school day. The girl who dressed up as Betsy Ross and waved on top of a float, in my home town's 4th of July parade. The one who proudly sang “God Bless the USA” in her car, as a teenager, while driving through town.
This voice is grappling with the juxtaposition between the Country she believed in… one based on inclusivity, freedom and heart, and the one she sees now- based on greed, hostility and animosity. Where anything standing in the way of the would-be-despot is threatened. Women, children, veterans, the best and brightest, the most vulnerable.. they’re all fair game. There is no “Freedom and Justice for all.” They’re banning books entitled “Freckle Face Strawberry”.
Gone are the days of peace, joy and compassion in our core values. They are being replaced by words like “us and them”, “winning”, “incredible” “a lot of money” and “billions and billions of dollars". Words matter … they set the tone. The wrong words provoke and call forth a state of bedlam, mayhem, anarchy and vitriol. The wrong words may just lead to our undoing. Words lead to actions. The actions of mad men who speak gibberish, intended to stoke the embers of disunity and rampant individualism, to scorch the very foundation that our country was built upon, cannot represent the heart of this great nation. I hope and I pray that our country will be restored to sanity, before it is too late.
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