We're sitting here, slap in the middle of the time between Veterans Day
and Thanksgiving Day. This period always reminds me of the time
Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers to you) said, "The older I get, the more
convinced I am that the space between people who are trying
their best to understand each other is hallowed ground.”
So, I guess we’re resting on hallowed ground during a hallowed
period.
In case you missed Veterans Day, I may as well put in my less-
than-two-cents worth of opinion.
To me, Veterans Day is a day to remember that countless men and
women throughout the world have lost their lives, their limbs, their
minds, in defense of something ethereal and ever-changing.
Something called peace. The people—the soldiers and freedom
fighters—often lost everything of value in their lives, just because
they wanted to keep what is precious, knowing that, should they
themselves be exterminated, their efforts just might have been
worth it to somebody else coming along, somebody else who is out
of harm’s way because of them.
There are all sorts of soldiers and freedom fighters: some wind up
being martyred, some wind up limping home to hold self and
family together, some simply disappear.
Is it worth it, this relentless chase for freedom and peace, when we
know full well that each peacetime is temporary, each quiet
moment of love and understanding could vanish in the next
conflagration?
There are two kinds of people in the world—those who look for
trouble and conflict, and those who try to avoid or undo trouble
and conflict. We’ll be watching both kinds of people in the news
between now and Thanksgiving—people who will fight just to
win, and people who will fight in hopes of bringing joy and
understanding to the world. Watch closely those factions in the
Middle East, in Myanmar, in Washington D.C., in Afghanistan, in
the nervous streets and alleys of your own neighborhood.
Fred Rogers said something else that I often think about:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my
mother would always say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will
always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in
times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am
always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—
so many caring people in this world.”
Don’t despair, my children—no matter how much the news of the
times seems destructive and hopeless, look out for the
helpers…and do a little helping yourself.
Even if the meek won’t inherit the earth, we can at least contest the
will
© 2010 A.D. by Jim Reed