I pray . . . pray HARD that . . . by the time you're old enough to know and understand worldly things . . . the world has settled down a little . . . that we've learned lessons . . . that we've become a more civil nation. It's my biggest fear that we're making the world unbearably messy for your generation.
If not, take heart . . . because pendulums swing . . .
. . . thing is, we could possibly reach "equilibrium" if people wouldn't continue to push!
Since the birth of our great nation, America has been at odds with itself for one reason or another . . . today's violence is really nothing new . . . it just seems much scarier because it's broadcast for weeks, sometimes months, across every available social platform. People are filled with passion . . . both good and bad passion . . . about everything . . . and passion is the catalyst for action.
What's new, however, is the sheer anger that seems to be sweeping the nation . . . and how easily offended everyone is. It almost appears as if people are now just looking for something or someone to offend them . . . just waiting for a fight . . . for someone to take the first swing so they can let that anger go.
I just don't know where ALL of the RAGE comes from . . .
. . . maybe because people feel oppressed?
There are people who are (and this is just a short arbitrary list - it could go on and on):
. . . still angry that we "stole" this country from the Native Americans
. . . upset because we're not British
. . . still Northerners who hate Southerners because of the Civil War
. . . still Southerners who hate Northerners because of the Civil War
. . . still mad that slavery existed in this country (but not that angry that it still goes on in other parts of the world)
. . . haven't moved past the Vietnam War
. . . don't want African-Americans in their neighborhood
. . . don't want Caucasians in their neighborhood
. . . don't want Asians in their neighborhood
. . . don't think women should work
. . . think women should work harder
. . . upset that gay people want to marry
. . . straight people are getting divorces
. . . killing doctors who perform abortions
. . . shooting at people because they voted for one party over another
. . . unfriending people on FaceBook because they don't agree with them on anything
. . . shooting people who unfriended them
I know some of these seem bizarre . . . some of them are legitimate ways to feel . . . after all, we are only human . . . and we feel . . . but mostly we dwell on things that are really things we need to move forward from.
There are days when I wake up and think I just don't want to "fight the fight" anymore. I have to be careful of everything that comes out of my mouth . . . not because of the sensitivity thing since we should all be treating each other with respect . . . but ESPECIALLY because I work on a college campus and there is a sensitivity issue . . .
. . . in reality we just have a new normal.
And each new generation that reaches the age of reason doesn't get why the previous generation has trouble understanding things . . . MY parents' generation certainly didn't understand MY generation . . . but then THEIR parents' generation made no effort to understand THEIR generation! Matter of fact, I'll bet if you brought one of our original forefathers back, their eyes would bug out and they'd keel over from a heart attack because I know THEY could never have envisioned this world we live in today!
Social Media . . . television . . . cell phones . . . we live in a world of pictures now . . . of video shot off the cuff that sometimes doesn't tell the whole story . . . bits and bytes often taken out of context . . .
. . . and it just inflames everyone to the point, if there is indeed more to the story, THAT the rest of the story is never heard because everyone's moved on to the next story.
It just feels like we live from tragedy to tragedy now . . . each one worse than the last.
My father used to say "Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear." I have grown to learn and understand the wisdom in those words.
Past events become history . . . we either learn from and correct our errors or we're doomed to repeat them.
Lion King's Rafiki had something to say about the past:
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