IT'S IN OUR BLOOD

 

There are many of us who say we had nothing to do with the theft of land out from under the Natives who were here before us…that we didn’t break any promises, we didn’t lie or steal or kill in a massive land-takeover bid….

There are many of us who say we feel no shame, we take no responsibility for those actions…that was something our ancestors did.

There are many of us who say we’ve never enslaved another person…we’ve never mistreated, abused or caused another person woe…

There are many of us who say we feel no shame, we take no responsibility…that was our ancestors…and that was a long, long time ago.

But there are some of us who still see the impact of our ancestors…who see the destruction and devastation that has lingered long after the flood…

who know as long as there is still one person feeling their effects…

there will be a heaviness in our heart 

and shame running through our blood.

FORGOTTEN AND REPEATED

 

I never fought in Vietnam…my parents never had to worry…to fear…to morn…for the simple reason my draft number was connected to the day that I was born.

I sat watching draft numbers being picked…wondering what I was going to do until my birthday draft number was finally called and I was 322.

As luck would have it I had a friend whose birthday was number 4….So I went off to college…while he went off to war.

A war that had been raging for 9 years…causing pain and grief and tears…

Sadly, the anguish and the agony of that war would rage on for 10 more years.

The soldiers who went off to fight…young men and women side by side…like any soldier in any war…they served, they fought…some died.

Over 58.000 young men and women died in that war…a number both sad and profound…some of their bodies never made it home…to this day they’ve never been found.

But those who returned alive from that Vietnam…found their war was out of fashion…they did not receive their country’s glory…nor their countrymen’s compassion.

It was a war that divided our county…pitting Americans against each other…

In the streets, to protest a war, we fought with our own sisters…our own brothers.

Yesterday we stopped at a park near a downtown South Florida neighborhood…where, to our surprise, a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial stood.

The wall was erected to memorialize these soldiers…whose lives went un-completed…with the hope the lessons from that war would never be forgotten…or repeated…

In a solemn, sobering moment I was filled with sadness…tears began to fall as I ran my fingers across the name of my friend upon that wall.

How sad it was to gaze out on all those names…trying to ascertain…after watching what Americans did to Americans this week…if my friend and all his friends hadn’t died in vain.

Wondering in the aftermath of a week where we ignored old lessons…where old mistakes were, once again, repeated…how many more people will be hurt…how many more lives will never be completed.

Wondering if it’s possible, as I ran my fingers along that wall…if there will ever be a time when there’ll be no wars at all…

I believe it is possible, without war, for people to come together, to compromise, to help their hate and anger cease…I believe every language has a word for this…

I believe that word…is PEACE

THINGS I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT

 

Here is a recent question posed to me that I needed time to think about…

What are the things in this world…I cannot live without?

Looking past food and water…the things my body needs in order to help it thrive…

I thought I’d concentrate on those things my heart and soul need to survive.

The first, for me, is love in all it’s many forms…like the love of my family and friends…Yes, love is definitely something in my life I never want to end.

The second would be hope…for even in my darkest times…when I was filled with doubt…hope was standing by my side telling me…things would all work out.

Any time a storm hit my life…no matter where or when…hope was there to remind me…the sun will shine again.

Perhaps that’s why I love sunrises so much…although this may seem a bit cliche…because rising with the sun each morning…is the hope of a new day.

The third thing would be beauty…for as long as I’m awake…I love my relationship with beauty…our subtle give and take.

For when the beauty I see around me…in the land, the sea, the air…finds its way into my heart…I begin to see more beauty everywhere.

Music would be next up…all the different types of music that I hear about…especially the music of nature…something I don’t think I could live without.

The roar of the ocean, the whistling of the wind, the sound of a single raindrop pinging…how you never know on a walk in nature which birds will be singing.

I’m sure there are more things I can’t live without that if I thought harder I would find…but these are the first four things that popped into my mind.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when I read this list backward…(the list I just made up above)…music, beauty, hope…all lead back to love.

No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all…in fact…I have do doubt…

Love is the greatest gift of all…and something I cannot live without.

MY ANCESTORS ARE WATCHING

 

My parents found the perfect way to make me behave on each step of the life I’m notching…they told me whatever I do good or bad to remember…my ancestors are watching.

They said I am the product of many ancestors who were on this Earth before me…and how each ancestor is but one leaf upon our family tree.

Wherever I go I carry the branches of my family tree…it’s how those who came before are watching over me.

It’s been a rather easy way to keep my life in sync…because before I do or say anything, I ask myself….what would my ancestor think?

I have felt my ancestors all my life…since I was a little boy…I have shared with them my sadness…I have shared with them my joy. 

No matter where’ I’ve gone in life…no matter how old I’ve grown…I’ve always had this wonderful feeling…that I have never been alone.

Whatever actions I’m about to take…my reasoning is always the same…

I want to honor those who came before me…I don’t want to cause them shame

And I look forward to the day I get to meet my ancestors…and they get to meet me…when I find my branch and take my place upon our family tree.

Where I can smile down on my great great grandchildren and the lives they will be notching…knowing from my place upon our family tree…along with my ancestors…I’ll be watching.

WHEN I WALK IN SILENCE

 Once a day I like to walk in silence…not only to concentrate on what I see…but to listen in to what the voices of the Earth are trying to say to me.

There are voices in the trees, in the clouds, in the mountains and the creeks…and if I listen closely in the silence…I can hear those voices speak.

And the more and more I listen to the voices of the sky, the sea, the land…the more of what they’re saying I begin to understand.

I can hear if one animal is happy or another one’s in pain.

By listening to the wind and the clouds…I begin to understand the rain.

Across the sky and hiding in the trees…are many different languages..a myriad of words…after listening in silence to them…I begin to understand the birds.

The rooster who announce it’s time for the sun to rise…the owl and the nightingale who tuck their families in by singing a lullaby.

I’m not sure how it works but a simple walk in silence as the day’s about to start…seems to give the voices of the Earth time to reach into my heart.

Which makes me wonder if this wouldn’t work with people…family and friends we meet along the way…What if we listened more in silence to what they had to say?

What if silent listening to the words of others…once from their lips their words depart makes it easier for their words to find a way into our hearts?

For I believe it’s only when words have been planted in our hearts that they have a chance to grow…why do I believe this…because on a silent walk one morning…

a little birdie told me so.

DON'T HAVE THE TIME

 

We hear this excuse quite a bit lately as we make our daily climb…

I have so much to do…so man responsibilities…I just don’t have the time.

I’m working hard for all the things I want…all the things I need

I don’t have time to exercise

to cook

to eat

I don’t have time to read.

I understand how busy we are in the world we’re trying to create

I only wish we were so busy…we didn’t have time to hate.

How wonderful would it be to hear words the world has never heard before:

I don’t have time for prejudices

I don’t have time for killing

I don’t have time for war.

because I’m too busy enjoying nature

spending time before each day ends

in the bosom of my family

or catching up with friends.

Imagine with me, if you will, a world we can create

where we’re much too busy spreading love

that we don’t have time to hate.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

 

I was brought up believing in the American Dream…that every person in America…everybody…every soul…has the same opportunities to fulfill their hopes and wishes…to achieve their highest goals.

But for women and other Americans with a different color on their face…when it comes to the American Dream…this hasn’t always been the case.

There have been some Americans throughout our history who to other Americans have been more than just unkind…who have forgotten no-one created on this Earth should be enslaved, mistreated or left behind.

Which means the American Dream…the one instilled in us by our fathers and our mothers…

an never be called the American Dream even for some

if it’s been a nightmare for so many others.