and this one was to a guy some called brilliant who i met through words some decades ago, an original hippie back in the days when hippies were hated and still smiled a lot... he created a wonderful post card collection called pot shot cards (don't let the antique web page fool you) that said so much in seventeen words or less... well, he gave a talk to a monday morning group, a neighborhood group that meets mondays consisting of other folk from that idealistic generation and that you might be able to read here, but if not, he spoke about redemption, specifically how some people in our culture can turn their reputations around from villian to respected, or something like that... in any case, this was my response which might say as much about me as it does about anything...
Well done Ashleigh :)
As I read the email portion of this email, before I dove into the text of your speaking engagement, the thought I pondered was perhaps the prelude to your subject. How our culture so based on a philosophy of forgiveness and redemption in religious and social contexts is somewhat bipolar as it seems to become just as enthused, if not more, in the tearing down of heroes and icons. Perhaps it is simply that fans of the latter is a more vocal minority or that they buy more news of the fallen, but lynch mobs are nothing new.
I thought to myself that my reaction to your subject was ever so depressing, to recall the downbeat cheers of our culture as you focus on the upbeat redeeming qualities of forgiveness and redemption. And then I found that you did note this thought in your inclusion of your 'pot shot':
"Why are we all so interested in news stories which are very embarrassing to the people concerned?"
Perhaps it is a misery loves company affect. The rubbernecking at auto accidents. The flocking to watch or share tragic stories. Perhaps the answers is that tearing down others provides a redemption for ourselves in the luck of the premise there but for fortune goes I. Yet, even after sixty years of rather disappointing experiences in love and trust, I still like to believe that we do not want to see the tragedy for the dark side of the pain or cruelty. I want to believe we slow down at the auto accidents and rush to watch or share the terrors of our times because we, deep in our hearts, want to believe we can find the happy ending. We can overcome the traumas and redeem our broken faith and will ourselves and others to be happy, no matter what.
Suddenly the final scene of The Wizard of Oz can be heard in my mind as I feel at home with this positive view of the sorrows and sadness and tragedies of life. Home is where the heart is and never more so than when we remember that even when the plane crashes, even when the explosions and violence of fiction or reality attracts and holds our attention, in the end, in our hearts, we do want the happy ending.
And may we all find ours.
Thank you for inspiring some thought tonight. I hope you and Dorothy enjoy your evening. :)
honest love,
Ric
