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Picture this. You are holding a
tall glass filled with sweet tea and ice. You are sitting on your
porch under a fan that is working overtime to create a breeze in the
late afternoon as the sun sinks ever so slowly toward the horizon.
You roll back on the rocking chair and lift the glass to your lips.
The condensation on the glass suddenly slips off the edge of the
glass and drips onto your chest. The sudden and unexpected chill
causes a shiver run up and down your spine. Your body temperature
drops for a moment and summer's oppressive heat is held, if but for
a moment, at bay.
All right, well that's all I can offer you in terms of a break from
this seemingly endless thermometer busting summer, so I hope it
helped.
In regards to everything else that's been happening lately, do you
remember what you were doing on the 16th of last month when the news
was announced that oil had stopped leaking into our Gulf waters?
I'll admit that my moment was rather anti-climactic, but still I
will recall that moment with as much clarity as when I watched the
New York City landscape change forever nine years ago. Never had I
thought that something as obscure as an oil leak would have caused
so many tears to fall from so many people. Looking back on it now, I
hold out hope that those 87 days will not bring to an end this part
of our world. And I hope, as well, that it hasn't brought an end to
a culture that is so intricately woven into these waters.
What I have rediscovered within all this devastation, though, is
hope. At least I think that's what it is. It's been a while. You
remember it too though, right? Those times when no matter how
different you might have been from someone else, you still felt a
sense of camaraderie with them. You didn't need to breakdown their
beliefs and opinions on any number of subjects before you decided if
you should help them or not. Or even if you should like them or not.
It didn't matter who they were as much as what they needed. You saw
past how they looked and concentrated on how you could help,
instead. And what brought us together was more important than what
kept us apart.
I realized how far we've separated from each other as humans when I
read what the governor of Hawaii said as she vetoed a bill in the
latest state legislative session. The quote was, "It would be
a mistake to allow a decision of this magnitude to be made by one
individual or a small group of elected officials." And I thought to
myself, "Are you kidding me? Isn't that why you were elected; to
represent the people of your state just like the legislators who
more closely were chosen to speak for their voters? So the
legislators who stand up for the people say that something should be
a law and the governor says that it isn't for them to decide?
Really? Isn't this what you were elected to do--to be the voice of
the people? Now you won't even do the job you were elected to do and
want to put it back on the people?"
And then I wondered if this wasn't the best job in the world next to
TV meteorologists? I mean really, what couldn't be better than
predicting what will happen, being totally wrong, and then being
applauded because you said it so well? The only better job would be
if you were chosen to stand up for the people and then said you
didn't think it was right for you to make those decisions for us?
And then what if you could convince these people you represent that
you are doing a great job and should be asked back to do it again
and again? How great would that be? We should all be vying for that
job!
And if this is going to be the case then I say let's not waste our
money on government. I say let's just vote on every decision that
ever has to be made. Majority rules and everyone has to stand behind
the vote. I don't care if it's the budget or the recession or war or
an oil spill or what speed we should be allowed to drive on each
road that we travel. I'm sure that there are people out there that
are capable of creating a system where we can all vote on every
subject that our country needs to make. They can be counted and then
become the rule of law. We could probably just hire those people who
count our votes on reality shows. The ones that tells us who is the
best singer, dancer, recovering Hollywood star, or best spouse for
some desperate person who can't get a date except on television. I'm
sure that these people would be truthful and honest and only state
what they have determined to be the consensus of those that they
represent. Why would they lie? If they wanted to do that then they
could just run for elected office. Oh wait, isn't that where this
all started in the first place?
Maybe we just all need to go back to school for a day. Go back for
even just the start of the day. Just long enough to hear once more
The Pledge of Allegiance. In particular, the part where we vow: "one
nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Maybe then we will remember that what we work towards together makes
us stronger. What we work together against doesn't. That it
shouldn't be about how we are different but about what we have in
common. That without an "us" there can be no "I" anyway.
And in honor of the end of the Gulf oil spill, let us not forget the
11 that were lost in the rig explosion: Jason Anderson, Aaron Dale
Burkeen, Donald Clark, Stephen Curtis, Roy Wyatt Kemp, Karl
Kleppinger, Gordon Jones, Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto
and Adam Weise. Go with God.
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