A wise character in a novel stated, "No portrait is ever a complete representation of its subject." That theme of portrait, subject and truth is contained in The Picture of Dorian Grey as well. It gives us an eerie, but necessary warning that all that is seen is not necessarily what is truly there. Not at all. What is hidden can, and often does, outweigh the visible 'truth' that we see with our subjective and/or hoodwinked eyes. Even the mind's eye of Plato's cave misunderstands what is seen, what the truth is, has grievous errors in interpretation, leading to despair and death. Death of a body and death of the mind and soul. No truth to the colors seen as they led to errors and fatalities.
For the past three months we have been seeing horrid pictures of a war that never should have been. We see the results of criminal behavior, what never should have been in the first place, as we misthought and misinterpreted the visions, the portraits of life we thought we saw and understood, read correctly. We were and are grossly mistaken. For sure, if we had read the portrait of Putin correctly, checked the colors of Russia, seen the truth of it all, the historical imperatives there for us to use, Ukraine would be presenting a massively differing portrait today.
The portrait of Ukraine has changed, moving from darker colors to lighter, life affirming ones. From a country, an area, where bloody antisemitism was practiced for hundreds of years, it has morphed, changed its colors to ones of acceptance. It is championing democracy, standing in for the nations of the world, giving them a chance to do the right thing, understand the import of the portraits portrayed in our media every day, all day. Whether we will do so remains up in the air, doubt laying a heavy blanket over that possibility.
Closer to home there are other black, threatening colors, portraits of ugliness that should never be. That should long ago have vanished from our art gallery of life, yet unfortunately have returned packing malevolent, deadly thoughts and consequences within its storm clouds, tainted even more by the streaks of red, of blood spilled due to its inner truths. These are truths which some cherish, while others detest. Still others remain in apathy or dull acceptance of whatever the status quo will be. Just leave them alone is their mantra. We love our bread and circus life. Better to ignore the ugly than pay attention to it.
So wrong, so very wrong. How do we allow the ugly color of hatred to blossom and grow in our society? How have we allowed, even encouraged the strength and length of the ugly, deadly, life sapping tentacles to reach this point? How have we allowed our minds and hearts to fall victim, willing victims even, to the ugliness of those portraits, the threatening, demeaning colors? Instead of rejecting these realities, we have instead provided fertile ground for its falsehoods, its evil, to grow apace, natural enemies short of supply and presence. Truly, our portraits in our attics are far uglier than Dorian Gray's in his attic.
Three months into an ugly streak of murderous deaths inflicted upon the unwary, the innocent, all in the name of truth, all accommodated by refusal to see the truth, we continue on our twisted paths. The GOP refuses to outright condemn the proliferation of guns in our society, especially the assault rifle. One Senator whines that assault rifles are great for killing feral pigs so why should the deaths of others take away his legal right to own such a weapon and indulge his tastes.
Why indeed. Since 2009 over 1,500 deaths in mass shootings right here in the good old USA. Countless thousands directly and indirectly affected, mourning, lives changed forever. Why? Because we cannot get our act together, the GOP and its retrogressive members refusing to see the true colors underneath their ugly chosen ones. Where is the right stated to kill via irresponsible, deadly policies of gun control? Where and why have these gun adherents forgotten the two words of the Second Amendment which nullify their rants about their rights. These words, "well regulated" militia, not a freewheeling one composed mainly of extremists, haters, over the top Christians who have little, if any, resemblance to true Christians and Christianity? Why? Wherefore? Whence?
Worst of all, the components of these crazed groups have actually won seats in governmental bodies within and at every single level. They threaten our democracy, tearing at its roots of equal rights, of access to voting, to overturning results, of suborning lies and violence at every corner. The same group and adherents who willfully, violently, attempted to overthrow the legal government of this nation of ours. Perhaps even more egregious is that so many Americans were willing to defend those actions, cheer them on, support them.
Sons of Liberty, see how your dreams have been twisted by the haters of today! These are most definitely not defenders of democracy, even as they take advantage of every loophole within the laws that govern democracy. Our job, the responsibility of seekers of truth, as representatives of humanity? As those who would keep a future of possibilities alive? To beat them back, to tamp them and their viperous venomous views and plans deep within the depths of the hell they wish for us.
A difficult undertaking. But what else is left. They have corrupted our basic founding stone of free, legal, peaceful elections and transfer of power. They have refused to recognize the equality, the shared humanity of all peoples, whatever and whoever they are and beliefs they profess. It is not our place to fit all into one pattern, kept that way. Rather we need to allow for differences, for them to be shared, appreciated, and mellowed, our similarities celebrated as well, joining the two worlds in peace.
Perhaps then we can put an end to the violence, the shocks to the core of humanity that these mass killings send through our souls, bleed and drain our sensibilities, and leave room only for more hatred, more unacceptance, more violence, more bloodshed, a vicious, never-ending cycle of death.
Are you not as tired, as much in despair as I am? Do you think these obscene shootings are to be 'understood', to be dumbed down into mere "evil", a part of life, or caused by 'wokeness' or CRT, or wrong religious beliefs, or too many doors in and out of a school (a la Cruz, the moron) or, best yet - MORE guns!!! The fanatic quest to save the 'life of an unborn human" a fetus, to be truthful - as opposed to saving the lives of countless born, existing, in black, white and red, not fetuses, but actual beings? Who has given them the right, the might, to kill all who disagree with them? To demonize them? To call down the wrath of the Lord upon them? As if they represent G-d on earth, His personal messengers. What is with all this extremism, the poison it has injected deep within the foundations and roots of America and the world as well. Surely we can improve our timing, our planning and responses, far better than those of the not so responding police in the latest horror.
I believe it was Madonna who sang of True Colors shining through. Perhaps we need to rehear and re-sing those words? Better yet, read the following, allowing it to sink into your every atom. Written by Amanda Gorman, the Nation's young poet. I cannot say it better than that. We all should be hurting.
HYMN FOR THE HURTING
Everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds made muddied and mute.
We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And yet none of it is new;
We knew it as home,
As horror,
As heritage.
Even our children
Cannot be children,
Cannot be.
Everything hurts.
It’s a hard time to be alive,
And even harder to stay that way.
We’re burdened to live out these days,
While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.
This alarm is how we know
We must be altered —
That we must differ or die,
That we must triumph or try.
Thus while hate cannot be terminated,
It can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.
May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.
Maybe everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed & strange.
But only when everything hurts
May everything change.
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