Won't you take me back to school
I need to learn the golden rule
Won't you lay it on the line
I need to hear it just one more time
Moody Blues – The Voice
Like so many others, I struggle to maintain some sense of equilibrium in a world gone mad. So much of what I learn everyday about my government, my politicians, my fellow Americans is infuriating or appalling. There is so much cruelty, bigotry, hatred, ignorance, foolishness that sometimes I am tempted to despair.
The problem with despair is that it's unsustainable and counter-productive. To despair at this point is to seal our fate. We are at a crucial point in history and we must keep fighting back. One simple way to fight back against greed, hate, selfishness, war, racism, bigotry, corporate hegemony, etc is to revive and push the Golden Rule and manifest it in our own lives. Everyone can relate to the Golden Rule. The good people of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston have shown us the way.
We can break the cycle of violence, retribution and revenge if, and only if, we can find the strength to forgive. We can only fight the hate by being better to each other. We all need to contribute to the better world we all desire. People deserve kindness and to live in peace. We need to make it so.
Happy people don't generally hurt others. People who are well-treated, who have no grievances don't become terrorists. People who are well loved are usually not filled with hate. People with enough love in their hearts can forgive anything. A little love would go a long way toward solving many of the world's thorniest problems. No one alive would be the first to recognize this nor the last to be ignored for saying it...or shot as the case may be.
Only love can drive out hate.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
All you need is love.
John Lennon
Or crucified.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Jesus
Won't you take me back to school, I need to learn the golden rule.
The Golden Rule, all by itself, as deceptively simple as it may be, could well be the one key to a future for our grandchildren and great grandchildren. If we as a species can overcome our selfishness and hatred, we may manage to do all the right things with respect to preserving the biosphere and our species. If we can bring ourselves to actually love one another and act accordingly we may succeed in pulling humanity from the fire. Otherwise it's not hard to see the nightmare that is coming.
I'm pulling for love.