Yesterday

“Do you believe it is possible to do something, say something, that could actually change the world? The way people think, the way we treat one another. Are words enough to erase all the hate and chaos we live in?

Look at all the people who have come before us that have tried. Did it really make a difference? Christ, Buda, Mohamed, Kennedy, King, even Hitler. All offered the promise of something better. But have things gotten better or does the fact we are humans and are constantly changing the meaning of success, happiness, whatever you choose to call it, mandate that for the remainder of man’s time on earth it will be more of the same. Always someone with a better mouse trap, a more ingenious way to kill one another.

I wonder sometimes if I have become too cynical. My hope has been turned to skepticism by reality. I fear that the longer we live the darker the world will become, until something happens to change the very nature of us as humans. 

We have at times banded together to change what was perceived evil. But it has paled in what history has shown us to be the true nature of humans. Oppression, in one form or another, caused millions of deaths, and is now considered a wonder of the world: the Pyramids, slavery. An entire continent stolen from the original inhabitants under the guise of a better world for everyone; except the native peoples.

We don’t seem to have the ability to be satisfied with who we are, what we want. It is always more, no matter what, it seems it is always more. There is never enough of the things we tell ourselves is important; money, fame, notoriety, but never faith, hope or charity. Why? I think because it has no quantitative value. We do not gain figuratively from goodness, only from evil. Wars fought, even with the best of intentions end up exchanging one evil for another. Maybe not right away, but it comes. It is the nature of man I believe that it has to occurs.

Sitting here on this bench, looking at the flowers, the fountain, the birds darting like kites in a New Delhi sky, I can’t help but be reminded of beauty and the purpose. It seems that is perhaps, where we make our mistakes. We manage in our infinite lack of wisdom to wrap purpose in beauty and then sell it as a package. Take away the beauty and we are left with the illusion it presented and the reality of its purpose.

Because we have been given the advantages of communication, we have also inherited the ability to lie and deceive. It has become a second nature to many. We tell lies to deceive, for both good and evil. To protect, and to destroy.  We have no shame when it comes to either. And yet we have created religions based on the idealism of both. How can we believe two opposite points of view simultaneously, and continue to believe we are the masters of the universe and deserve to decide its future.

We talk about tipping points. Have we gone too far to change course. Doesn’t matter how you interpret its meaning; it implies there is no longer the possibility of redemption. 

When someone is injured so badly that hope is reserved for only those who observe, does that make the injury irreversible for the victim, or does the victim decide what the epitaph will be. 

I suppose what I am asking is whether hope, faith, and charity, if amended, are capable of moving the fulcrum upon which the conclusion resides. Are we capable of moving the position of that definitive point where the history of our earth and its people can go either way. Is it possible to keep from going into the abyss by moving away from it, or by moving the abyss. 

Is the technology that brought us to the edge of the cliff capable of causing us to act, or will we continue to attempt to move the canyon, or better yet pretend it is not there.

You have been very patient. I hope I haven’t bored you with my rambling. It is a form of therapy I've developed to keep myself from giving up. If I can preside over both sides of an argument, I am able to better understand the intricacies of the argument. I rarely come to a conclusion as to what is right or wrong, but it gives me a chance to be the fulcrum; move myself for a reason I have determined. I know that sounds like I am absolving my self of the consequences of the decision, but on the contrary, I feel it gives me the opportunity to explore the facts, the reality, and its consequences; decide what is best for me and others; the totality of facts.

We have evolved to a place where we only consider the immediacy of our actions. Will we reach the realm of que’ sera’ sera’, where the concept of hope has been extinguished, and therefore there is no future?

I must apologize. I did not mean to blacken your day with the inevitability of destruction, as I must admit I haven’t made up my mind as of yet, of the outcome. You have brought me here today to give a speech to this class of young visionary students, who are to inherit the mistakes of our past. I am to provide the vision hope provides, and I have just spent the last several minutes speaking about doom and gloom. 

I am surprised you have not offered an opinion, as you are, after all, dedicated to encouraging hope as a means to salvation, no matter the task. And yet you remained contemplative, and mute. Do you have an opinion? Should I alter my approach to motivating an auditorium of blank canvases?”

...

“Do you know why you are here today? You talk as though you were about to offer the opportunity for each of us to save the world by simply wishing it to be saved. You have, unless you have forgotten, been convicted of sedition. Promising hope when you, we, have all known there is no longer any chance of survival for the majority, and that, as much as I dislike mentioning it, we have doomed ourselves to our own fate.

We have brought you here today to speak to the world about the possibility of survival, should we all work together. Our hope is that we can avoid chaos and revolution which will only hasten the demise we will eventually endure.”

...

“You do not believe there is a hope that what we have participated in destroying, we can now rebuild? Then why the charade? If you have no hope, then why prolonging the inevitable, if your opinion has any merit.  It is a lie that will become evident shortly.  If people are not allowed to believe there is at least a chance and are given the means by which to initiate the change necessary to embolden hope, you are offering nothing but despair in its place. Nothing is more contagious than fear, and fear has only one outlet, violence.”

...

“I can only agree. That is why we brought you here. You are a respected Theologian and activist. People when afraid, turn to God, as it is the only alternative to having nothing, except uncertainty. We are sure you will do your best to convince the world that God will provide. If you don’t, you do realize they will perceive God as an invention of your theology, and your prediction of fear and violence will certainly be laid at your feet, and those of your ilk. So do what you can, as it is in your best interest, as well as ours.”

....

“As well as yours? You and your greed are responsible for the disaster we are trapped in. Do you believe you will be exonerated by either the people or God?”

...

“Perhaps not. But then, as you so eloquently demonstrated a few minutes ago, fear is most often applied to the messengers, as they are the most convenient means to retribution. I would suggest you speak with all the conviction you can conjure from your reality, as your life may depend upon it.”