Words, Silence And Inheritance The paucity of justice. The prevalence of alienation. The frequency of silence. The presence of cynicism. The hubris of indignation. These are some of the realities of our social and political culture. These are the realities in us too. The future is shrouded in darkness because the clarity of the present is in question. In this we hope for something better. In this we feel helpless. In this we articulate with great detail, in private, the possibility of justice and hope. In silence, we dream, unable or unwilling to utter the necessary truths letting our silence be our shroud of personal comfort. Our silence is seductive. Our silence is safe. Our silence lends bittersweet reconciliation to our personal failures too well understood. Even as we recognize this spiral of addicted failure we are unable to step out of its grip. Maybe this is learned. Maybe this is expected. Maybe this is what we dont want. Maybe there is still hope. There was a time when this was well understood. There was a time when courage was necessary and average people found incredible strength in themselves and in each other. Their hope was nurtured by words, thoughts and passions of a single man, a simple man, whose words uttered out loud what everyone reconciled in silence. He spoke the truth and gave power to the truth everyone understood. He was not silent. He spoke what others would soon forget and hide in the silence of comfortable conformity. That man was Dr. Martin Luther King. His words then are relevant today. “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” “The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die” “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say” ― Martin Luther King Jr. There is power in words and our silence is deafening. A legacy beckons; will we speak up and claim our inheritance?
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 03:08:52 +0000