He was a prophet, with his own book and in the pages of his book there is a telling statement.
"These are the things that you shall do. Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgements that are true and make for peace."
Simple, yet it seems that we are never able to reach that point in our lives, either individual or societal. What would our present situation be like if we spoke the truth, if we did not play these ridiculous and dangerous games wherein we competed to see who comes out on top. Certainly it is not humanity. Even the good guys tell lies, certainly do not render true and just judgements and as for peace, well, just take a look around and list the conflicts around the world.
Albert Einstein said once that one had to learn the rules of the game and then play to win. A tad cynical, yes, thinking that we can reduce humanity and its survival to a crude game, but there it is. So how do we play this game and is it worth it if we lose our souls in the moves of the game?
These are questions that I can answer only for myself. If in fighting the good fight we lose the fight for our souls, then what have we won? Nothing, for we are then corrupt ourselves, and in fighting for that better country or status of life for all we simply lose our way and forget our original goals, or sell out for a piece of it. Cynical? Maybe. Pessimistic? Maybe. But what else have we learned from all this current mess?
We have learned to thumb our phones, to click the computer links, to scan the papers, to laugh and cry at the same time and perhaps give up just a bit more every day. How much more filth can we tolerate? How many more lies will we uncover. No, he does not have business with the government but oh, yes, now we remember. Or no, there were no extramarital affairs - I just paid her money because I liked her or other nonsense, all that speak to the severe decline in our morals, in the nerve of our supposed leaders, in the contempt that they have for the electorate, thinking that no one will ever uncover the truth and even if so, no one will care.
Zechariah says. He says the truth. That is what he says. A five letter word, not four, and yet we treat the truth as if it were somehow tainted and only the foolish of the Don Quixotes among us speak the truth, honor the truth. Is that the point we have reached? Are we at the time when the voices of yet other Biblical characters ring through.
"They said to one another, behold here cometh the dreamer, let us slay him and we shall see what will become of his dreams." (Genesis 37:19 - 20)
At present we are seeing some glimpses of hope but I wonder, I really do. Remember the power of our anger, of the demands of our generation. We stood in the streets and gave out flowers or hit back. Oh, we were going to change the world and yes, we did, in a way, by actually bringing that war to a close and by riding on buses in the south but then we lost our way, descended into drugs, into nonsense and then into greed. We lost ourselves, spoke not truth nor just judgements.
So our hopes that are pinned on these bright high schoolers today, the ones who say they will not stand still to be killed nor allow others to do so. These kids that know that more than violence, the quiet speaking of the truth, the registrations to vote, vote, vote - this is what will bring about a change. We will get rid of the dinosaurs, of the petrified wood that our former high charging representatives once were, and we will once and for all surge for equality and justice and truth and honor and hope and peace.
And if one needs inspiration, if one needs to seek for aid and comfort, for a vision of what can be and should be, then read one of the best and most powerful speeches ever spoken, The Mountaintop speech spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. only a day or so before his death by violence. Hear his words and then wonder.
"The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around.... (but) only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.....Something is happening in our world...... And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be.....to make America a better nation."
"He's allowed me to go up to the mountains. And I've looked over. I've seen the promised land....we as a people, will get to the promised land."
Read the entire speech. Hear and read the speech in its entirety. Remember the words of Zechariah. Then take accounting of one's own life and of the life of our nation. We need to make a choice. Do we stay in the bogs and mud of the marshes or do we choose the high road, the roads of Zechariah and the words of King? Do we slay the dreamer or do we work hard to attain the dream? Think hard on this, very hard.
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