Pretty sure I've covered the whole "if it's on the internet, it must be true thing," but I've got something here . . . given today's political mess . . . that you should read:
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotations/135-quotes-falsely-attributed
. . . specifically the quote pictured above!
I don't know if that link will work by the time you find it, but it's full of quotes that have been attributed to Winston Churchill . . . a man many consider a "man of integrity." I have no idea how much of what's written is even true either . . . just take it for what it's worth.
I'm not here to tell you that if you're reading this at age 20 and are not a liberal that you're heartless . . . I know lots of kids that age that are both liberal and conservative . . . they all seem to have caring hearts!
Likewise, if you're reading this at age 40, and you're not a conservative, I'm not going to tell you that you're stupid! I know all kinds of people on both sides of the political arena that are pretty darn smart!
It's just that there are people who think if YOU don't agree with THEM, then you must be some kind of idiot . . . no matter what your stance on anything is!
What's this all about then? Well, sparked by a conversation I had today about something that happened to a friend of mine, I thought you might need to know that the world is not a perfect place! Wait . . . what?!?! What do you mean the world isn't perfect?
Duh! Guess what . . . we are imperfect people . . . living in an imperfect world. For centuries man has been trying to create perfect societies . . . many of them based on a formula in a book of fiction . . . written in the 18th century . . . Utopia . . . by a man named Thomas Moore. Problem is, in these societies, there is no room for human nature . . . good or bad!
The best you can hope for . . . in my opinion . . . is to find peace with the world in which you live! You don't have to agree with everything . . . but we are a world based on laws and etiquette. Living in the United States can sometimes give you a false sense of reality, so I would suggest that you travel to other countries . . . for comparison . . . but it's our reality.
When I lived in Spain, the country was ruled by Francisco Franco . . . their Prime Minister turned dictator. Now, keep in mind I was a child . . . but I could tell that this world was different than the one I'd left behind. Nearly every street corner had two armed La Guardia . . . military policemen . . . that walked their beats . . . ready to shoot at the slightest provocation. Spaniards walked on pins and needles there! Americans and other foreigners were not immune from their heavy-handed rule. My mother once got stopped by a La Guardia . . . on an open road . . . after passing another vehicle . . . because her tires hit the solid yellow line that indicated the passing lane had ended! I kid you not! Our beaches were roamed by them as well . . . in case of foreign invasion!
When I traveled to Australia in the 90's, where most foreigners seemed very unwelcome, I watched as security guards opened container after container of liquid items (shampoo, conditioner, face cream, etc) and ran their fingers through them . . . in search of contraband.
I came home from a trip to Jamaica and was all but strip-searched by the American customs agents . . . Jamaica, in the 80's (as it still is today) was known for their high incidences of marijuana use and sales.
We now live in a post 9/11 world . . . everything changed that day . . . we turned into a paranoid nation . . . nobody knew what to do . . . so life changed . . . dramatically! We'd had a few scares prior to that day: foreign terrorists drove a car bomb into the World Trade Center in 1993 . . . then in 1995 a couple of homegrown extremist idiots built a bomb and blew up a federal building in Oklahoma city! You'd think those might have waked us up . . . I suppose they did . . . but it was short lived . . . we are America, after all.
I don't have any solution to the problem. Is a wall the answer? Should we completely ban travel from foreign countries into our nation? Should we just throw everyone not born in America in the last 20 years out? None of those solutions is likely to really work. Besides, we're a nation founded on immigrants . . . just like every other nation in the world. How do we know who was first where? There are stories . . . some proof has been offered up . . . theories abound. Truth is, nobody really knows for sure.
I believe we are all visitors here . . . temporary stewards in this world . . . we've been given a responsibility to try and make it a better place. People seem to think we're working to an end. If you're a Christian, then yes, we are working to an end . . . the Rapture . . . the Second Coming of Christ . . . but nobody has a clue WHEN that will happen. And while, as a Christian, I do believe in that "end," it doesn't stop me . . . anyone . . . from being human.
Forgive the human-ness in people . . .
Tommy, I need for you to be the best man you can be . . . a man of integrity . . . someone you can believe in . . . so that when you leave this world people say "He was an honest man . . . true to himself . . . fair to others." Yeah, I know, we shouldn't care what others think about us, and in some ways that is true . . . but we need to strive to be good . . . and honest . . . and kind . . . and fair . . . these attributes are not that hard to obtain.
If you turn 20 and want to try and save the world, by all means, throw yourself into it and do it with gusto. But if you hit 40 and grow disillusioned with the fact that the world doesn't want to be saved, then step back and accept it . . . change what you can . . . let the rest go . . . in the big picture you are the only person you have the power to change.
I love you with all my heart kid . . . be a good man. The only thing I really ask is that you stick with your convictions!
And by all means, go visit Rugby, TN . . . one of the first places established in East Tennessee . . . visualized as a Utopian Society . . . didn't last long! It's purported to be one of the most haunted towns in America. They do have one of the coolest libraries I've ever seen though!
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| The Newbury House . . . said to be haunted by its own resident ghost. |
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