History isn’t shaped by heroes or even villains but by whispers of ordinary people that find each other through a shared discontent, a growing fear, a lost hope or a stolen ideal. Timid and uncertain at first, we seek signs that ours is the true path. We find courage in the acceptance of strangers, nodding heads and eyes that meet ours without hesitation. The few become many. The words flow, the emotions escape and the tears gush. Our excitement builds as our convictions, righteousness, faith and sense of inevitable justice for what becomes the cause evolves. Hesitant murmurs transform into shouts of hosannas in the street. There is no turning back.
It is an American rite of passage to draw a line in the sand for something we are either vehemently against or passionately committed to. You may fool yourself into believing that you would never march to Washington DC or pound on closed doors, but the time will come when you either join the fight or the fight comes to you. When it happens, don’t discount your contribution because it may just be the one that triggers a tsunami of change.
Still, trumpets often blare ahead of accomplishment and celebrations are prematurely planned. The thrill of the movement mesmerizes false warriors of the injustice, inequity, duplicity or hypocrisy at the heart of each cause. Many lose sight of their motivation or become disillusioned and fall away.
There are some that relish being judged by their meanest moments that have forgotten how to forgive. They are often the voice that plants a lie, anger or envy into the ear of an apathetic soldier, introducing a spark of doubt that flames into self-centered, self-serving and self-indulgent greed. One heart clangs shut and the momentum changes. All because of reckless words.
Words have cheapened in today’s world. Facts are fictions. They are not backed by reality and have become a game without reward or a con perpetrated on the gullible. More and more, the purpose of conversation and communication is to camouflage motives and true intentions. How do we cypher truth from innuendos, ridicule, obscure responses and cloaked realities?
It is the primary challenge we face in this time. Perhaps it is our duty to seek out the truth and turn off the double speak from those who want to control, manipulate and distract us for their own purposes and benefit. Truth is irrelevant to those that have the power to turn every whim into a binding command. They create their own version of reality and laugh at the idea of guilt or innocence.
Surely, we are enlightened and intelligent enough to discern the difference and act rationally.
As a people we have never allowed an indifferent shepherd to lead us to questionable pastures. Why now?
Fear is always a player. It prevents us from asserting ourselves, keeping us in our “place”. Fear hushes our laments and muffles our dreams. We believe that if we reach too high, strive too often or dream too big we will certainly fail and that will break our hearts. Fear is real and often painful and we must acknowledge it before we can overcome it.
The universality of fear is acknowledged in the Litany Against Fear, spoken by many highly educated people who faced danger or fear during their everyday lives. The litany helped focus their minds in times of peril. The Litany Against Fear was prominent in the book Dune and Children of Dune by Frank Herbert. Here is that version of the litany for your study:
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
We must practice courage and be ready to speak up for ourselves, children, the poor and any of God’s creatures who have no voice and depend on ours. It is also essential to be true to ourselves, caring for our health, engaging our minds and nurturing our spiritual lives. Often, we must choose between saying no to fleeting pleasure and opportunities and yes to our deepest nature. We are disloyal to ourselves when we fail to honor our genuine values and instead sell ourselves out for the price of success, acceptance or just to be considered cool. We feel the shame of betrayal.
Charles J. Orlando said, “Betrayal is the worst… and the key to moving past it is to identify what led up to it in the first place.”
That is our cause. Will you join?
A world without trust is like having a phone with no service. And what do you do with a phone with no service? You play games.
