Eloquence

Eloquence does not make for a good president, or a good husband, but it will lift our spirits and  may appeal to the very best in us, if we let it. Of course it can do the opposite and appeal to the worst, think of Hitler. My Mom, a WW II veteran, knew this and did not ever place her trust in words again, ever, or politicians for that matter. Cynicism can not be the most productive stance in life. 

Thinking back to when I was a child, I remember the Klu Klux Klan making front page on my Mom's weekly magazine. I remember wondering why there could possibly be such hatred for cute looking Negros, or Negerlis as we would call them with no malice. I had a brown doll with red lips and kinky hair. Of course I had no idea then that Oprah, growing up in the south, about my age, had no doll to her likeness and would bemoan the lack of such dolls for black kids for decades yet to come. The fact that I did not care much for any kind of doll did not make matters any better either. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to be with my mom, with real live people, not fake, dead imitations of them. Dolls held little interest for me. Of course this came from a girl that had missed her mom badly for the first few years of her life.

Looking back what I now miss and would have wished for would have been true discussions, explorations and explanations of all the myriad mysterious matters of living life. Like why would God not permit African babies in to heaven if they had died prematurely, without proper baptism? Or how could anyone enjoy heaven, knowing that others were still suffering? Or why would one people want to drop bombs on another? Or why did bridges not collapse, or maybe rather when might they collapse? And what makes buildings stand straight rather then lean like the tower of Pisa?

Yes, young minds have still the ability to wonder. Sadly my Dad thought it a waste of time to ask questions and think out loud, or stare in to the air. And my mom was in to sharing feelings, not so much ideas. With her I would argue if a shade of turquoise was actually the color blue or green. While I did not grow up in the era where children were to be seen, but not heard, my parents did, so I was not met in my puzzlement, which contributed to a profound sense of aloneness and also a lack of comprehension, which left me naive for far too long. What a waste! The best we can do is to relate to kids for real and explain the business of living to the best of our ability in age appropriate terms. We need to promote emotional and intellectual literacy. Kids deserve to be heard, and they deserve our legitimate, not flippant answers to their questions.

Dr. King seemed to have been a compulsive sex addict. I feel for his wife, any wife of such, but will I let this detract from the importance of his message? My mom allowed such gossip to inform her negative opinions of such as Dr. King and President Kennedy. I wish to not become a cynic. President Obama swayed us with his eloquent use of words in to hopes for change that turned out to have no basis in the reality of his political marriage to the middle road. His words now still can ring beautiful, heart felt and true, but knowing the source better, they no longer reverberate in my heart the way they used to.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was a masterful story teller and joker, his charisma brought him a world wide following. Much of what I read and listened to then still holds water now. That is the words still ring, but the source, now defiled leaves a bad aftertaste. Guns and poison and mind control, how was it possible for such to become part of a peaceful, spiritual community? I still wonder, but reject the notion that the guru was not to blame and knew nothing. So these days when Osho gets quoted, without any qualifiers, I resist, I will not swallow, I will not take it in, I refuse. What else is one to do? We can not ignore for long what we do know? The source does taint that which springs from it.

Eloquence, charisma, Dr. King, President Kennedy, President Obama, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, my mentors, they all had it, but what does it all mean?

For one we can not take their words alone, but have to include their actions in our assessment. For two, we ought to allow for personal failings. Charismatic personalities seem larger then life, but they are still human. We ought to refrain from making them in to the Gods they are not. We ought to use what they contribute, but leave the rest. Most importantly we need not fall from too great heights if we keep it all in perspective. Charismatic personalities are a sign of the times, they fill a need. Hunger can make us blind but for the object of our satisfaction. I propose to keep our eyes wide open, our glasses clear so as to see the world for what it is, rather then what we would like it to be. 

Heroes are not those that are larger then life, but those that participate in life to the best of their abilities. Heros are those that rush by to assist a shooting victim undeterred by concern for their own safety, but driven to do what needs to be done. Heroes are those that manage to do the right thing at the right time, with or without eloquence.