Sticks and Stones

So much chit chat. Everywhere. Over the phone, the radio, TV, computer. Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr. Opinions. Ideas. Thoughtful questions seeking answers. Ideas suggestive of interlocking synergies with other areas of inquiry.

Have you ever noticed how some questions simply unravel new meaning? Sort of like this poser: ‘Why did the founding fathers separate the powers of government?’ Or, ‘why were the founding fathers so pointed in their religious views?’ And, ‘what were the religious views of our forefathers?’

In answering those questions we encounter some startling facts. We learn views that we did not suspect to be in existence then.

The stunning idea here is this: Time helps us understand interconnected elements of an issue and thus the truer meaning of what happened and why.

Readers of this blog know that I was struck as a high school student by the teaching of a senior year history teacher. Miss Gifford told us over and over again that history is the story of Cause, effect, result. I have since learned again and again this is true. History is first a story, a recounting of events in a certain time period. But their importance lies in why they occurred, what effect those happenings had at the time, and what eventual effect they had much later. I have also learned that results continue for times and epochs. The story continues. The results move well into the unfolding future much like the ever broadening circle of ripples in the pond caused by the tossing of a stone.

I am reminded of President Lyndon B. Johnson from the mid-1960’s. Fifty years ago he was waging his War on Poverty in America. He desperately wanted to eliminate or at least soften the huge gap of living standards among fellow Americans. He recognized the existence of an enormous underclass of Americans. His work on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prepared him for such a personal discovery. And his commitment to John Fitzgerald Kennedy after his assassination was to right the wrongs he now recognized throughout his beloved nation. A land of inalienable rights, and pursuit of happiness had come up tarnished. All was not well.

That realization had an effect then, and a result now. In the year 2014 America echoes the arguments for raising the minimum wage. The War on Poverty was needed in 1964. That war is incomplete and needs to continue. Raising the minimum wage is yet another symbol of inequality in our land. It needs to be eliminated.

Justice needed to be done in 1964. Justice still needs being done in 2014.

James Lipton of The Actors’ Studio TV program, famously asks his guests this question:

“If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?”

Chris Colfer the gay actor, who plays a gay character on the TV program Glee, answered that question from Lipton with these words:

            “Don’t listen to them, you get to come in too.”

Stark. Direct. A personal truth. Also a statement of justice.

The principles of civil rights will always be with us. Doing something about them will continue to be with us as well. Justice calls us every moment of every day. In our busy-ness of daily routine we miss that point all too often. We need reminding.

Anthony Douglas Williams offers this refreshing thought:

“We are here to heal, not harm. We are here to love, not hate. We are here to create, not destroy.”

I find those words empowering and comforting. They are a reminder. They are a commandment. These are things we ought to do. Not because they are easy. But because they are right. And needed.

Cause. Effect. Result. The cause remains. Past actions provided effects. The results are still unfolding. They need our efforts to retain the promise of our principles.

January 17, 2014