Forge Ahead Whether You Like Each Other Or Not

I'm not sure when or where came the spawning of the concept that you have to agree with and like everyone else in order to get anything done.

As a matter of fact, if you think about it, there are plenty of times and places that a great deal got accomplished by folks who honestly flat out could not stand each other as individuals.

If you think for one minute that the colonists of what would become the United States of America all got along like bosom buddies, you'd best go back and take another look at the whole thing. Because that was NOT the reality.

Even so, a powerful nation was forged, a brand spankin' new form of government introduced to the world, and a new path was set.

By a bunch of people who didn't see eye to eye on exactly how to accomplish what they set out to do.

Point is - they did it.

They sat down and hammered out what needed hammering out, and I have NO doubt that there was a lot of shouting and name-calling (likely an understatement) in the process.

People who didn't like each other, didn't agree with each other, nevertheless worked together to get done what needed to get done.

If they could do it, so can we.

We the People of the United States of America have what it takes to stay on that path, to protect and preserve the nation forged in brutal times, and to accomplish what we set out to do.

We the People of the World, likewise.

An Angel Story

I have a number of 'Angel Stories' but for today my focus is on a point that needs to be made about one of them in particular. The whole story will come in another post; for now the abbreviated version will make the point.

A recent topic of conversation was about angels; it reminded me of the reluctant angel I met when my vehicle overheated on I-25 between Pueblo and Colorado Springs, the one who drove a red corvette convertible. 

I needed help and he helped me, confused as all get-out because, as he told me, he just didn’t do stuff like help people because all people are inherently bad, hateful, and generally mean. Nevertheless he helped me in more ways than one and was on the receiving end of a blessing of his own.

He drove into the Springs to get the part my poor little beat-up S10 Blazer needed, leaving me with my vehicle because otherwise it probably wouldn't be there when we got back, and I was to stay IN the vehicle (doors locked and windows up). 

While he was gone, people pulled off of I-25 from both directions to check on me. I’m not even kidding you a little bit here. I started writing down plate numbers on the back of an envelope but stopped when I ran out of room and lost count. More than FORTY vehicles pulled into that little area, some of the folk choosing to stick around until my ‘angel’ got back with the part, which took better than an hour.

The point I want to make here is not so much that there are indeed an abundance of ‘angels among us’ (although that’s most certainly true and I’m here to tell you so) but ... 

Those angels showed up from all socio-economic backgrounds (going by their vehicles and clothes) and from all the ethnic-cultural backgrounds that the Front Range is home to, they were of all ages and both genders – and not a one of them gave any of the others so much as a sideways look, I’ll have you know. 

Each and all of them had pulled off of that highway urged by the exact same impulse, to help someone, and they all knew it. Grins and waves from each to the other and they were back on their own paths for the day. 

Few of them would have known how MANY they were a part of on that day, but I knew and so did a couple of the early stoppers who stayed to ‘stand guard’.

So it wasn’t just me who was blessed on that day, nor just my reluctant angel (who was shocked enough to find a group of folks waiting with me when he got back, let alone when we told him how MANY more had stopped), but also all those folk who took the time out of their days and made the effort to check on the well-being of a total stranger.

Do not ask me to explain because I flat out cannot do it. 

Such a thing may never have happened before and may not have happened since and may never happen again – but on that day it did I tell you true.

In today’s world we could have and would likely have recorded the whole thing and it would have gone viral on line. As it is, the memory makes me smile and having had the experience makes me believe very strongly in just the opposite of what my reluctant angel told me about people on that day.

Score one for the good folk!

From all walks of life, from all ages, from all ethnicities, from all cultures, male and female they stepped up to the plate and offered aid, support, good wishes, protection, and many a smile and/or hug as well. 

That I am still so impacted by that one short time speaks on behalf of everyone who was there on that day. 

I couldn’t tell you the name of a single one of them except that I remember Ric was the name of the reluctant angel. 

But I will never ever in my life forget the message they brought with them, each and all independently of everyone else. 

‘I care,’ they said. ‘I am here.’

*sentimental sigh*

I totally love remembering times like that.

It's called the Tenth Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Now, much as we hate to admit it, most of us are indeed somewhat intimidated by the sheer size of our Federal Government, and even the power of our States.

We're a whole lot more comfortable dealing with our own local folk, the ones we see on a regular basis in the course of our daily lives, at the grocery store, at church maybe, at the post office, walking down the street, at a local ballgame.

And that's the way it's supposed to be.

Ultimately, we really do, each and all of us, have the power of our own protection in our own hands. 

We the People really do elect, within our own local counties, the people who can and should, and hopefully will, stand for us in the face of ANY threat. 

In our County, NOBODY can threaten us in any way, shape, or form without our own duly elected Sheriff having the Authority to tell them to take a hike or go to jail.

In response to a recent local 'incident' I posted the account. Here's what I had to say to a comment by a friend:

"They high-tailed it when/before the actual Authority of Sheridan County showed up. I'm thinking that the first words out of our mouths should any such thing occur in our presence ought to be, 'I want the Sheriff, right here, right now." And be bloody sure that our duly elected Sheriffs know from the get-go that we expect them to protect us from ANYONE who threatens us. End of rant."

We as citizens are supposed to have rights. If/when those rights are threatened or directly violated, as happened, our first (and maybe only) line of defense is our County Sheriff. So we'd best be almighty careful about who we choose.

Just sayin'.

We as a Nation are too huge for most of us to be able to wrap our heads around. It's incredibly comforting to know that, within the confines of our own home turf, we really do have someone to whom we ourselves have given the Authority to stand for us. 

And, lest we or anyone else forget, it is indeed our own Authority which s/he represents. Whom we elect we can also un-elect if our will isn't represented.

Yep.

We're NOT REALLY as much at the mercy of 'the government' as we've been led to believe we are.

What an odd notion it is going to seem to us, when we finally come to understand more clearly, as a people, exactly what our elder generations wanted for us. 

We're going to have to figure it out for ourselves, and it will have to begin right here, in our own homes, our own communities, our own Counties.

But it is a beginning. As we at long last begin to feel and to exercise our own rights, our own responsibilities, our own prerogatives as We the People, you can bet it's liable to make some people a little nervous. So be it. What begins in our own homes, our own communities, our own Counties will not go unnoticed by our States. They too will begin to take a closer look at their own role. Eventually, God willing, the wisdom of our so-very-local choices will make itself a part of our bigger world.

You see, when we begin to understand that We the People actually DO have the power to elect our own local Sheriffs, imbuing them with the power of our collective will - and when said duly elected Sheriffs get it that their job is to protect us from ANYONE who might threaten us - we will have us the beginning of a mighty strong pool of people from whom to choose for the next rung up the ladder. A Sheriff who proves himself ready willing and able to do the job he's elected to do is going to be a natural choice to trust to carry that same commitment and determination into the State arena. From there, it would be on to Washington.

Wow.

Can you imagine a State/Federal government filled with those who actually know and respect what it means to represent US? Who have proven themselves in our own communities? Who will come back to us once their terms are done with, resuming their lives among us, the ones they've represented?

Yeah. That's the way it's supposed to be.

And we can make it happen, just we our own little selves in our own little homes, communities, Counties.

We the People seem to have forgotten who we are and what we stand for.

As this election year progresses, there are going to be a lot of folks who might forget this, who would prefer to believe that it just isn't true, who want to think that Eagle can fly perfectly well with only one wing.

Animosity seems to be flaring up every which way from Tuesday, which is perhaps to be expected - all things considered.

We can point fingers 'til we're blue in the face but the bottom line is that We the People seem to have forgotten who we are and what we stand for.

We've been told this, that, and the other thing about ourselves so frequently and for so long that we look in the mirror and barely recognize ourselves any more.

If we look in that mirror and see pride, and thoughtfulness, and caring about others, and intelligence, and determination, and ambition, and *gasp!* patriotism looking back out at us, we might be forgiven for wondering if there's something wrong with our mirror.

Because none of those things are supposed to be there, y'know.

PRIDE has become a dirty word, unacceptable these days. I'm not talking about hubris here, but simple Pride. We're all apparently supposed to walk around with our heads hanging down and our tails dragging, lest we offend anybody by standing tall and walking proud. 

What the heck is up with that?

Who has been telling us all this crap about ourselves?

More to the point, how in the name of all that's holy did we actually get to the point of tolerating any such thing, let alone apparently falling for it hook, line, and sinker?

We seem to have become a nation divided along so many lines that the tangles have tangles. 

Feathers are getting ruffled on both of those wings, and the wings themselves are so busy beating at one another that they cannot possibly beat in tandem to get that Eagle off the ground. 

Good grief.

We're expected to 'pick a wing' ... where's the option for choosing the whole damn bird?

Where's the notion that those two wings BELONG TO THE SAME BIRD?

Whatever happened to the ability to agree to disagree without fighting about it?

Right now I have the feeling that both wings of our bird are wounded; in the process of exacerbating those wounds by beating at each other, the rest of the bird is taking a beating from both sides.

Because, you know, a bird doesn't consist of just a pair of wings. It's got a body with a beating heart in it and a circulatory system and all of the other systems that make it live, including a brain and instincts.

Now, said bird could well survive without one (or both) wings. It wouldn't be able to fly, but it would survive.

Providing that those wings don't beat the bird to death, of course, in the process of trying to beat one another to death.

Those wings are designed to spread out on either side of the body of the bird, beat in sync, and together make that Eagle soar. They complement one another, provide balance and strength.

Like it or not, people, both of those wings - Left and Right - are pretty much needed. The sooner we get that through our heads, the better off we'll all be. 

Conflict between the two is pretty much not gonna work. Has it done any good yet? No. It has not. So really, cut it out already.

Look at that Eagle up there. 

Yeah, it's got two wings and both of those wings are attached to the body of the Eagle. But think about this : those wings are designed to balance each other. They're attached on opposite sides of that body for a reason, folks. Not only do they provide balance for the whole, they're situated to provide support and strength for each other. They can't actually cause harm to one another; they can barely reach each other although both get their 'orders' from within the body of the bird. So We the People ought not to gripe overmuch if our 'wings' seem at odds. Maybe we've been sending them mixed signals.

Be that as it may be, the point here is that, politically speaking, both sides of the aisle have to be strong, they have to be in opposition, and they have to provide that balance.

So where is the candidate who can and will say to the other wing: 'Hey, I appreciate and respect your contribution to the flight of this bird but, y'know, you're kinda taking us in circles here and this bird's getting a mite dizzy. So it's time to balance things out some.' And have the muscle to make that balance happen without being hateful about it and recognizing that the other wing is just as important. Irritating half of the neurons in the body of the bird is not conducive to a smooth flight.

Right.

Well.

When it comes to birds, those wings really do work in tandem; they take their orders from the bird and are not themselves calling any shots. They do what they're supposed to do exactly as they're designed to. 

Come to think of it, that's how it's supposed to work for us as a nation.

Except that somewhere along the line the wings seem to have gone a little haywire or some kind of neurological defect has developed. Something has gone awry. The body of the bird isn't sending clear signals to the wings; so the wings are going all over the place instead of beating the way they're supposed to.

Remember what I said up there?

We the People seem to have forgotten who we are and what we stand for.

Until we remember, or learn anew, that We the People are the body of that bird, that we are the heart, the instinct, the organs, the blood, the bone, the muscle, the sinew, the brain, and the nervous system, we cannot expect our wings to do what they're supposed to do. 

It is up to US, We the People, to provide what is necessary to make this Eagle soar.

Until we're sending clear signals, we're going to be flapping around on the ground not getting anywhere. Our wings are plenty strong, both of them. We don't have to worry about them being able to carry our weight. But they have to be told what we want and expect from them. 

Yep.

That sounds a little bass-ackward, doesn't it?

That's because ... ahem ... here we go again ... 

We the People seem to have forgotten who we are and what we stand for.

What it will take to remind us, or teach us, I have no idea.

Maybe a huge publicity blitz, which I would certainly do if I had the resources.

Banners for every town and every community, posters for every mailbox, buttons/pins for every schoolchild, signs in every store, notices on every billboard, advertisements in every media outlet in the nation, flags for every parade, notices on every piece of merchandise marketed in the nation ... everywhere a person might look or listen, every day for eternity ... plaster that flying Eagle in every public place, in every nook and cranny in this nation.

When someone asks you what's up with all the Eagles, you say to them, 'Well, that's me. That Eagle right there is me. And that one is Tom, and that one is Dick, and that one is Harry, and that one is Jane, and that one is Martha, and that one is Laura. They are all of us. It's an American thing, you know. Those Eagles are We the People.'

It's already a national symbol.

Use it.

Yeah the wings are important.

But they don't control the bird.

The bird controls the wings.

That is what the United States of America is all about.

That is who We the People are and what we stand for.

Period end of discussion.

Here's a New York Times Headline:

'In State of the Union, Obama Confronts Americans’ Fears'

And me, I'm going, 'What in the heck IS this?'

Who keeps coming up with this load of crap and where in this whole wide big world is it coming from?

I mean, really.

I look in the mirror and ask myself, 'Self, are you afraid?' The answer is, 'Nope.'

I look around me at my friends,neighbors, family, co-workers, people I see on the street.

You know what?

I'm not seeing any fear.

When politicians and/or media use words like 'fear' the implication is that we as a nation are afraid of something.

Excuse me, but their somewhat (geez I can't even think of a word to describe it) attempt to plant fear where there is none seems to be falling flat.

We might be frustrated, irritated, infuriated - but I'm not finding any fear among us.

So what in bloody blue blazes are these references to 'fear' all about?

Me, I think it's probably a case of projection (it's a psych term, look it up).

Somebody might be afraid, but it sure as heck ain't We the People.

Of What Faith Are WE THE PEOPLE?

See that center circle right up there? That's our Faith. All of those circles are linked and cannot be separated. All are bound by that center circle - Faith.

Now, what the heck, right?

We here in the United States have all kinds of differences in our Faith. It's the truth - we do have a lot of differences among us. And that's okay, has been okay, generally speaking, for as long as there's been a United States. 

There's room for the differences among us, so long as one basic rule is followed: Believe what you choose, but you will will not do harm to others.

Our witch-hunting days were short-lived and are long past. We do not burn people here. We do not behead people. We do not mutilate people. We do not consider deceit and murder admirable.

There are all sorts here. We've got Pagans, Jews, Christians of all kinds, Wiccans, Hindi, Atheists, Traditionalists, Non-conformists, Scientists, Futurists, Buddhists,  and every other kind of '-ist'  and '-ism' you could possibly think of, with variations abounding among each and all of them. Lots and lots of sorts we've got, all different from one another.

Beneath the differences, through them, over-riding them, is that one basic rule. That is our fundamental Faith ... in one another ... whatever our differences, however much we can and do rant and rave and cuss blue streaks if we want to, there's a darned solid line in place between your fist and my nose so to speak. You cross that line and you're in trouble.

See, here's the deal.

If I were by chance sitting in a church pew and you came in, I would scoot over to make space for you, no matter what religion you are. If you want to sit alongside of whoever else happens to be at that service, you're certainly welcome. If, however, you came in and started shooting, somebody would shoot you because you just crossed that line. Whether we scoot or shoot is entirely up to you.

Because, as the kids would say, that's just how we roll here in the United States. Generally speaking, at least.

Our Faith is strong - in God, in one another, and in our own selves.

Those of us who live in well-armed snoopy little communities, we aren't particularly afraid of much of anything. The fact that everybody in town knows everybody else's business can be annoying as all get-out. It is also very much an effective security measure. 

The bad guys are better off just leaving us alone here in Small Town USA.

For one thing, we aren't all that interesting to anybody except ourselves. For another thing we don't have much of anything that anybody else might want. But mostly, what kind of publicity would get generated for the bad guys if all we did was shoot 'em when they opened fire on us? No media hoopla, no big deal - just like if a coyote threatened one of our kids. Bang, and the varmint ain't gonna bother us no more. 

Then there's that 'snoopy' factor. We are downright nosy. Somebody moves into town, we're gonna know it. We're gonna snoop and poke and pry and watch to see if they eat the bacon we're all so fond of. Even 'just passing through' people get the same treatment, yep. Call us paranoid if you want; we're okay with that. We've always been like this, you know. My family moved here fifty-odd years ago and we're still kind of the new folks in town, relatively speaking.

So yeah, we have our Faith. We also have Family, Friends, Freedom, and the Future - all linked securely together.

Our own Small Town USA is kind of a microcosm of our much larger national community. We can fuss and fret and call each other bad names and poke and prod each other over piddly stuff and make fun of folks for whatever ... but when push comes to shove we'll up and shoot whatever bad guy takes a shot at any of us, even if it's the guy we felt like shooting our own selves just yesterday because he's so damn dumb about lutefisk and thinks everybody ought to like it just because he does. He's been harping about that lutefisk for forty years or more and ain't nobody shot him yet. We aren't about to let anyone else shoot him. Feeling like doing something is a far cry from actually doing it.

Now don't think we aren't compassionate toward those who don't get to live out here among us. We are. We feel right sorry for you. And you're welcome to come sit beside us on that church pew any time you want. You are not welcome to come out here and start shooting us. We shoot back. And we eat a lot of bacon; lutefisk not so much, although some people do claim to like it.

Fourth of July Celebrations

I risk offending a few folks here but am going to go ahead with this anyhow, because it's on my mind and in my heart.

It's just past eleven in the evening of this July 1, 2015. America celebrates her Independence Day in just a couple of days and a couple of hours.

There will be gatherings, and picnics, and fireworks, and Flag waving going on every which way from Tuesday, all of which I happen to love a lot.

I posted photos of some of our Founding Fathers on my Facebook page, and a few of our National icons - the eagle and the Flag, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty ... people and things that every American ought to be familiar with.

But why is it that I seem to be the only one who is posting this type of thing? 

With all the hoop-la about flags these days, our Flag is everywhere - and that's a good thing, don't get me wrong here - but that Flag didn't just happen, folks. It didn't appear out of nowhere, and the Nation it represents didn't just fall down onto the North American continent out of thin air.

While everyone is planning their picnics and fireworks, how many of us are thinking about WHY we're having picnics and fireworks? I mean really thinking about it, not just kind of knowing ... 

Back in the day those guys did what they had to do when they had to do it in order for us to - WHAT? Have a picnic? Shoot off fireworks? Yes. Indeed yes. That we are able to do so in safety and freedom would no doubt please them immensely. Other things, probably not so much.

We're reaping the benefits of what they did over 200 years ago.

Do we not get it that their choices clear back then are impacting us TODAY?

Do we not get it that our own choices are going to be impacting the generations who will be living here more than 200 years down the road?

So, as we're eating our steaks or hot dogs, munching on potato salad, and seeing who can spit watermelon seeds the furthest, maybe the thought ought to cross our minds that doing these things, having the safety and freedom to do them, might be something we want for our future generations to be able to enjoy doing too.

We can say, 'Boy, I'm sure glad those guys did what they did way back more than two hundred years ago!'

Two hundred years from now, will Americans be saying those words about us?

Has America Found Her Voice?

I seem to hear the stirring of an echo in the air. 

Could it be a refrain from an old song we had long forgotten?

I hope so.

I really really hope so, because the melody is lovely in my ears.

It is the sound of many many Voices Singing.

It is the Song of America and We The People of the United States of America have begun to Sing it.

We are many.

We are diverse.

Our Voices rise in distinctly differing ranges, each and all separately beautiful; when they join it is a Symphony of Unity.

And so I say: 

SING together, People of the United States - please please don't stop Singing. 

Your Song is strong, and proud, and so beautiful, so very beautiful.