5-15-13 RMB Courageous
Dear Rita Mae Brown,
I started reading High
Hearts. Once again I looked forward to the words preceding page one.
These words were more somber than in previous books, beginning with sincere
gratitude to individuals and institutions alike, moving into the sad news of
your beloved cat, Baby Jesus, and your mother’s passing. You have my
condolences - - all these years later, although I am of a mind that believes
they are still with you and always will be.
The Forward was educational
and thought provoking, so much so that I read it to the boys. I have spent many
a conversation with them showing them their connection to the universe, to each
other and to nature. This was the first in depth conversation that I have had
with them about their connection to our government, local, city, state and
national. Your voice echoes. Your words travel from generation to generation.
About Civil War monuments
you note “Yet nowhere in my hometown is there mention of the sacrifice of women
and blacks. Some paid with their lives, all paid with their worldly goods, many
paid with their health, and no one, no one was ever the same again. Until such
time as we correct this oversight, let this book stand as their monument.”
Words worth repeating.
Regarding your research of
certain lives lived in the Civil War period you state, “The courage of these
individuals is breathtaking. Sometimes, in my darker moments, I wonder if we
have it today.”
Reverend Millie once posed a
question to our class, “If Jesus were alive today facing the persecution he
faced then, how many of us would stand with him? How many would face death with
him?”
Extend this notion to any
individual, any cause. I venture to say, it is more than a lack of courage, it
is a lack of certainty, certainty of what is right, what is worthy, certainty
of our own judgment and our own potential. At what point does suspicion or
curiosity become absolute involvement?
How many Germans watched
their Jewish friends persecuted? How many settlers assaulted the Native
American’s land and people? How many women accepted being second class
citizens? How many hide their love so as not to offend the masses? There are
too many examples to site of times when it took too long for someone to say “Enough.”
I learned that if I watch
for opportunities to lend a hand, they appear, gifts from the universe, or God,
or simply my own will fulfilled. They appear.
Can we learn to watch for
opportunities to be courageous, to find certainty in the greater good of any
moment, to be vocal before our voice is lost in the chaos…before the bloodshed?
Sincerely,
Loraine
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