I Can'T Breathe - a Rant

I CAN’T BREATHE I am being suffocated by causes. Will we march Quixote-like enraged by the spinning of the windmills? We protest the wars carrying placards while expecting others to carry arms, praise God and worship Jesus while condemning all others to eternal damnation. How many would offer to abort – an abortion – by offering to adopt the child at birth, feed the hungry at their own kitchen table, stage a “die-in” in the lobbies of academia demanding they empty their cash filled endowment accounts – and give to the poor, clothe the naked, drill wells for the thirsty. In our effort to “Celebrate Diversity” are we selectively excluding those who are just too diverse for us? Must we sacrifice our history and culture on the altar of inclusiveness? Perhaps, in time, our exhalations will become toxic to an environment devoid of trees to balance our co-dependent existence. Why are the rights of the 1% minority less important than those of the 99% who claim to be in the majority. Are not politicians corrupt by the very nature of the political power structure? Should we vote blindly because we do not listen – only hear what we want to hear, sit in the eye of the hurricane of apathy warning all of the dangers outside of it, tax the poor to fund programs for the poor, subsidize farmers to grow less to keep the prices high, rail against compromises in the privacy laws while posting our lives on Face Book, twitter, and u-tube. Have we forgotten the cries of the oppressed: “No more genocides, no more holocausts”, turned our backs, averted our eyes lest we see the horror we negligently condone. Will we black out all our bumper stickers, discard all of our tee shirts, assist the elderly shopper in reaching the high shelf, pick up after our pets – or even more spiritually – pick up after someone else, speak to the disheveled panhandler – if only briefly - to say good morning, contribute more than money and three cans of tuna to the food drive, assist voters to the polls regardless of their political leanings, allow those who do not see our concerns as having any real value their opinion. Will we(I) be their when the marches are over, the media bored with the cause, the placards torn and faded, the enthusiasm waning as work, school, exams, life – and the living of it – move us back to the eye of the maelstrom, the safety of conformity, the “peace” of acquiescence. Or will we scream each morning “LET US BREATHE”. Let us breathe life and passion and power into our day, reach out and “BE CAUSE”, stay the course lest the ship lose it heading, run aground on the shoals of false satisfaction at how involved we were, how much we accomplished. Will we breathe the breath of truth, of freedom, of love, of peace, of unity across this land reaching to the shores and forests of our world, reaching to touch the hand of that stranger who lives next door. John G. Lawless 12/13/2014