Today’s reading brought to mind “The Age of Aquarius” from a while back.
“Then Peace will guide the Planet
And love will steer the stars”
The Fifth Dimension
Hearing that song in my college days as the Viet Nam war continued, you’d be correct to guess many of my peers were Yearning For Peace. Especially ones with low Draft Lottery numbers!
It never occurred to me to start by seeking peace within myself? That might have allowed calm contemplation and helping to arrange letter-writing campaigns to our Congressmen, our president.
Yes, handwritten letters, hand addressed envelopes, and stamps!☮️
No web addresses. This was 1969! Otherwise to stay agitated and unfocused was to do nothing.
I have often wondered if protests entrench resistance and resentment on “the other side”.
Perhaps sometimes they are quite necessary to nudge needed change?
I am aware that this is not “my” way.
Your response this morning put me in mind of a quote I took from Lee Thayer’s book Leadership: Thinking, Being, Doing…
When you begin to see your complicity in the perversity, you encounter in life, then there begins to be the possibility that you might provide others with some much-needed leadership.
During that stage of the VietNam war, those who seemed to favor or at least not speak out against the war were named “The Silent Majority.” Richard Nixon used the phrase many times. It was as if that group’s decision to say nothing made them victims? In some odd way, that justified calling out the National Guard to kill four unarmed protesters at Kent State University. That of course energized the anti-war protesters.
During spring term of 1970, protestors tried to prevent students from attending classes. I did not relent to their demands. Instead I struck a compromise: after I attend my class, I’ll return here to discuss our views on the war and solutions. My premise was that we couldn’t affect great change in a term or a year or perhaps even a war. I argued we needed degrees, then jobs, and then the opportunity to work “inside the system” to exert our powers of persuasion on coworkers and those in command. Gradual attitude change. I’ll concede the protesters thought I was a dunce. 🤷🏽 Did I influence another soul? Even one? I’ll never know. Yet I’m glad to this day for speaking my mind as peacefully, yet forcefully, as possible.
Today’s reading brought to mind “The Age of Aquarius” from a while back.
“Then Peace will guide the Planet
And love will steer the stars”
The Fifth Dimension
Hearing that song in my college days as the Viet Nam war continued, you’d be correct to guess many of my peers were Yearning For Peace. Especially ones with low Draft Lottery numbers!
It never occurred to me to start by seeking peace within myself? That might have allowed calm contemplation and helping to arrange letter-writing campaigns to our Congressmen, our president.
Yes, handwritten letters, hand addressed envelopes, and stamps!☮️
No web addresses. This was 1969! Otherwise to stay agitated and unfocused was to do nothing.
There’s much to hear in today’s reading. ✌️
I have often wondered if protests entrench resistance and resentment on “the other side”.
Perhaps sometimes they are quite necessary to nudge needed change?
I am aware that this is not “my” way.
Your response this morning put me in mind of a quote I took from Lee Thayer’s book Leadership: Thinking, Being, Doing…
When you begin to see your complicity in the perversity, you encounter in life, then there begins to be the possibility that you might provide others with some much-needed leadership.
During that stage of the VietNam war, those who seemed to favor or at least not speak out against the war were named “The Silent Majority.” Richard Nixon used the phrase many times. It was as if that group’s decision to say nothing made them victims? In some odd way, that justified calling out the National Guard to kill four unarmed protesters at Kent State University. That of course energized the anti-war protesters.
During spring term of 1970, protestors tried to prevent students from attending classes. I did not relent to their demands. Instead I struck a compromise: after I attend my class, I’ll return here to discuss our views on the war and solutions. My premise was that we couldn’t affect great change in a term or a year or perhaps even a war. I argued we needed degrees, then jobs, and then the opportunity to work “inside the system” to exert our powers of persuasion on coworkers and those in command. Gradual attitude change. I’ll concede the protesters thought I was a dunce. 🤷🏽 Did I influence another soul? Even one? I’ll never know. Yet I’m glad to this day for speaking my mind as peacefully, yet forcefully, as possible.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us Gary.
I suspect your actions were noticed and remembered by someone(s).