What Can We Do?

A quiet life is hard to acquire. And then we wonder if we are bored yet! So we think afresh what we do with our time and what we would like to do.

For some this is charitable tasks and pastimes. Others will indulge their hobbies while others immerse themselves in family matters. Still others will seek the means of community work in which governance matters are engaged.

The news then and now would include who’s saying what and about what topic, all while urging others to do as he wants and to avoid doing what the others are urging upon the public. The discussion rapidly becomes a debate, and then a war of propaganda.

Abraham Lincoln encountered these problems massively – before, during and after the Civil War.  He said:

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who would pervert the Constitution.”

He would know. The abolitionist movement was a hard master of the day. If philosophy, theology and loving hearts are to be obeyed, slavery had to go. It was not a decision done lightly or in short order. No, generations struggled with the issue and finally evolved to a decision to free the slaves no matter what. The Civil War was the ‘what’. The South refused what they believed to be the hegemony of the North. And thus the War Between the States began. It was not all about slavery, but rather economics and the social underpinning of the economics of the region.

Two nations were the result, one the constitutional nation of America (the North) and the other the Confederate States of America. Two different constitutions. Two vastly different anchors of belief. So much blood followed and loss of life the scars live to this day.

Lincoln chose to live up to the Constitution. It was a lonely decision and placed him in lonely outposts while the war was conducted in all of its gruesomeness. Not something he wanted, but he did support and protect the Constitution regardless of the price.

In other times other issues capture the public’s attention. The war of words develops and we call that the ‘nightly news’. Here’s a quote that might help you understand that routine news hour:

“If the words don’t add up it’s usually because the truth wasn’t included in the equation.”          ~Author Unknown

This quote helps me deal with the noise others pass off as opinions and news. I seek the truth and find that a most difficult task. Once confronted by irrefutable truth, it is not always easy to understand or recognize it. We are not always gifted with the logic and contextual data that helps determine the truth of any matter let alone the claims of those who we mightily trust.

Truth is all around us but not always recognized. We have our filters turned on to shroud the truth as though behind a mask. How on earth are we then to know the truth?

Throughout the ages wise old people have asked that question with no clear answer. We too have to stumble through our own age of doubt and wonder.

At the end of the day we are left with a beautiful statement by the Dalai Lama who said:

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.”

Live by loving, believing and doing. The best way we know how is also required but left unsaid. If we bring clear minds and pure hearts to this situation we have a better chance to find the truth. Pondering the lessons of all the yesterdays and the possibilities of the unseen tomorrows, will help us do better with the present. Not always will this be conclusive, but the chances are improved that we will encounter truth and do it justice.

February 25, 2015