I heard an interesting quote today from a historical documentary about the U.S. Civil War: ‘In the darkness, blue and grey look the same. You can’t tell the difference.’
My mushy brain did not immediately go to ‘wow, that must involve the retina and eye mechanisms failing to discern the pigmentation due to the lack of light.’ My mushy brain went immediately to ‘when life is darkest, maybe our differences aren’t so different at all. In our propensity to analyze and over analyze everything, sometimes we focus on our differences and our problems rather than our similarities and accomplishments and that’s a big mistake.’
Do you know the difference between a humanities writer and a political/financial analyst/entertainment writer? One of them is telling the truth.
Long, long ago an amazing man named Moses accomplished something that later, President Lincoln accomplished as well. Both amazing men managed to bring together a large group of people who were otherwise more likely to pull apart because those peoples focused only on their differences. Yes, their differences were profound. But both amazing men felt strongly that ethics, morals, and a sense of humanity must win the day. Both men faced conflict, used stern discipline on their peoples, resorted to capital punishment when absolutely necessary, and grieved at the magnitude of their duties. Neither man wanted the job of leading their rowdy people but when the need became apparent, both men stepped up to the plate. They both did the best they could and wished they could have done even better. History shows that they did a pretty good job, in my humble opinion. Both men looked at the differences, squabbles, issues, etc., of their peoples as well as the conflicts their peoples were facing with other, very different cultures that had other, very different values. Both men realized that there was no way a peaceful co-existence was possible but both men also did attempt to smooth the differences before making the momentous decisions to fight for freedom and their right to exist according to their and their peoples ethics, morals, and values. Both men prevailed but at a very heavy cost to themselves, their families, their people, and their nations.
Another similarity of those two amazing men was that they spoke the truth. There was no spin, no political overtones, no shading of the truth. Neither man viewed himself as above anyone else, or not subject to the very ethics, morals, and values for which he was fighting. They were not two-faced, showing one face to the public and another to their intimates. And both men commanded large groups of people, men and women, who fought to the death. Yes, both men practiced manipulation of people in order to bring about change but their motives were profoundly humanistic and meant to accomplish the most good for the most people. Both men were humanitarians and were strongly aware that whatever actions they took, whatever orders they gave, whatever look or word, or sigh they made would affect others. I perceive that both men maintained a clear and consistent personal filter through which they processed their emotions, their desires, their instincts, and their needs in order to assure that their subsequent actions were consistent with their humanitarian goals.
President Lincoln never saw the new nation that his greatness brought into existence. He was killed by a little man driven by selfish and vindictive drives that he chose to act upon. Moses never crossed into the Promised Land with his people. Supposedly Moses was told by God that he could not, but my mushy brain perceives a different truth. Moses, like President Lincoln, set into place certain laws that were meant to define their peoples. These laws were what people in the legal field would comment upon as being able to stand on their own. This means that these laws would stand every test that humanity could subject them to and still hold true. It also means that the creator of these laws was not necessary to their application. In other words, when President Lincoln was cruelly murdered and when Moses died at the border of the Promised Land, the laws they created did not die with them.
President Lincoln gave his life for this country. In his personal diary, he wrote that he had a premonition of his impending death. Yet he carried on and prior to his murder, he made sure that his ideals were passed into law or were impressed onto others to carry forward. Moses was told that he would die when he finally reached the border of the Promised Land. Yet he carried on and prior to his passing, he recited – word for word - every word of the laws that God commanded him to take to his people at Mt. Sinai.
Had President Lincoln lived long after the conclusion of the Civil War, or had Moses lived to cross into the Promised Land, their peoples may have become an entirely different culture. Humans have the annoying propensity to idealize and to lift up certain individuals above others. President Lincoln and Moses both knew that this was wrong. Had either man lived longer lives, their nations may have focused upon the men and not the laws that they lived and died to bring forward.
Our nation today is shot through with financial talking heads, political celebrities, entertainment idols, etc. A person cannot listen to the radio or attempt to watch a decent television show without being insulted by their words and actions. This is compounded by the ridiculous claims of marketers who try to convince everyone that their particular product is better, faster, and more desirable than any other. Financial analysts spin the latest market hiccup according to the scripts they are given by the Powers That Be in high places. Political celebrities smile for the cameras and then break the hearts of their intimates by their disgusting behavior. Entertainment idols look fabulous – as they consume mass amounts of illicit drugs and alcohol while living by every unfiltered passion, desire, and instinct that pops into their muddled brains.
Can it be that today, in our prosperous society that knows no bounds, we are in the midst of the greatest test of the ideals that President Lincoln and Moses created? It is easy to perceive a threat to the good of our people when it is presented as a gun, bomb, or terror threat. It is not so easy to perceive the subtle threats that appear in the form of manipulative financial ‘geniuses’, sly and deceptive politicians, entertainers who portray their drugged out lifestyles as cool and to be envied. Could it be that today some of us are focused on the things that not important – and not focused on what and who we are and who we can become if we choose to live decent, ethical lives in respect of the laws that great men like Moses and President Lincoln lived and died for? And thousands of our fellow countrymen and women likewise died to defend?
My mushy brain is simply awestruck by the goodness of the decent people in this country. Decent people who know are aware of ALL the problems we face (hey, they watch TV too and can’t avoid seeing the talking heads, political celebrities, and entertainment idols in action) but they focus on a reality that men like Moses and President Lincoln presented long ago. They go out every day and pull victims from a burning building, patrol our city streets to protect us from criminals, put on a military uniform and muster and into war. They teach our children at school, provide medical services at our hospitals, join volunteer organizations to assist in disasters. They farm to grow our food, fish to bring our seafood to market, and create community gardens and farmers markets. These decent Americans know the real truth –our differences aren’t so great after all. In the face of darkness such as after 9/11, after Hurricane Katrina, after the recent tornadoes in our Midwest states, these decent Americans put into practice the ethics, morals, and values of old and they get things done. There is a profound truth in this that no analyst, politician, or entertainer can spin . . . when we stand together despite our differences, when we choose to practice decency, and when we are respectful of others, we cannot help but become the nation that great men like Moses and President Lincoln foresaw. We cannot help but make honorable all the blood and sacrifice that all the men and women, military or not, of our history have shed and suffered in order to create the future we now enjoy. We cannot help but be our personal best.
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