"We're all in this thing together
Walkin' the line between faith and fear
This life don't last forever
When you cry I taste the salt in your tears"
-- Old Crow Medicine Show
I've been out of school long enough not to remember the last time I recited The Pledge of Allegiance, but not long enough that I don't remember it. There's one word in particular that as a youth I always had trouble pronouncing and probably didn't even understand until I was an adult. And now it seems as though that word might have lost its meaning entirely.
The word is "indivisible," as in "one nation ... indivisible." You know, indivisible as in united, inseparable, blended and conjoined. Indivisible as in "United we stand, divided we fall." Indivisible as in we are all in this together. Not indivisible as in "one nation, red and blue, Fox and MSNBC, Tea Party and Progressive, I'm right and you're wrong."
In urging his fellow patriots (or were they traitors to the British crown?) to sign the just-written, fully discussed and heavily edited Declaration of Independence, John Hancock noted the need for everyone to sign so that they could "hang together" rather than "hang alone." So those men from large and small states, who were merchants and plantation owners, lawyers and men of the cloth, realizing the only way it could ever work was for them to work together, pledged their fortunes, their sacred honor and even their lives to an idea -- one nation, indivisible.
Somehow, our perspective has changed from one of us to one of me and mine. We have decided during these uncertain times not to expand though loving and acceptance, through non-judgment and tolerance, but rather to contract through blame and fault, through fear and smear. We have chosen to emphasize conflict over resolution, right and wrong over workable, and differences over similarities. In those choices we have lost that connection that made us all -- every single one of us -- Americans. We no longer see ourselves as part of the ideal of "E Pluribus Unum." We are no longer out of many, one. We've lost our connection, and as a result have moved from joyful to sad.
Once an unhappy young man came to an old Master looking for a solution to his sadness. The Guru instructed the young lad to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.
"How does it taste?" the Master asked.
"Awful, how do you think?" replied the youth.
The Master laughed and told the boy that they were about to take a short trip. The two walked in silence to a nearby lake, where the old man gave the young one another handful of salt and then asked him to put it in the lake. When the lad swirled his handful of salt into the sparkling water, the old man instructed him, "Now drink." He cupped his hands, filled them and drank. As the water dripped down the youngster's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?"
"Good!" the boy replied, somewhat surprised.
"Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master.
"No," answered the young man, even more surprised.
The Master sat down beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"
We are all in this thing together. I propose that we act like it and choose to become not just a lake but an ocean. And the only way I know how to do that is to make nothing more important than the loving. And in that loving we must see the truth that is part of every idea and accept the spirit of giving in which it is offered. And if we must call one another a name, let that name be "American."
Jan Shepherd is a transformational coach who lives in Southern California. As a transformational guide, she has worked closely with individual clients and families and has helped many to transform their lives and experience all that life has to offer. Learn more at www.janshepherd.com.
Philip Reynolds: The Biblical Definitions Of The Pursuit Of Happiness
Jan Shepherd: 3 Essential Keys to Living a Healthy, Peace-Filled Life
Jan Shepherd: And You Thought Arizona Had Boundary Problems
Pledge of Allegiance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tea Party movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tea Party News and Video - FOX News Topics - FOXNews.com
United States Declaration of Independence - Wikipedia, the free ...
However we have a largely unconscious and poorly-educated populace conditioned to believe whatever they are told by those in positions of "authority". These authorities employ a divide and conquer strategy designed to polarize and weaken the populace through convincing them they have far more differences than commonalities.
This strategy is enormously effective because it works at the level of ego. Most people have no idea of what ego is, let alone the degree to which it controls them. If you don't know how the game is run, then how can you be aware that you are, in fact, being played?
Divide and conquer. Works every time.
One of the negative effects (among many) of the polarizing linguistic strategies used on much of conservative political talk radio (and by some left wing hosts as well) is that those who are relentlessly attacked also become further entrenched, polarized, defensive, disoriented, and hostile.
I, too, find the tone of some comments on this thread simplistic and/or cutting, bringing heat but little light. Thank you for writing an uplifting piece. I do not see America through rose-colored glasses, but it is still a country with tremendous strengths. And certainly we are indivisible: it is an ideal that brought civil rights, women's rights, human rights. Human dignity is indivisible. That is an American ideal, and we continue to work in that direction.
And I am glad factual errors were caught by readers and acknowledged by your editor.
www.stoppolarizingtalk.org
It was not John Hancock who said "we must hang together or we will hang separately." It was Benjamin Franklin.
"E pluribus unum" actually has a rather mundane background, namely as a direction for making salad dressing. See below:
"E pluribus unum (pronounced /ˈiː ˈplʊərɨbəs ˈuːnəm/; Latin /ˈeː ˈpluːrɪbʊs ˈuːnũː/), Latin for "Out of many, one", is a motto on the Seal of the United States,... A variant of the phrase was used in Moretum, a poem about salad attributed to Virgil but with the actual author unknown. In the poem text, color est e pluribus unus describes the blending of colors into one. St Augustine used a variant of the phrase, ex pluribus unum, in his Confessions. At the time of the American Revolution, the exact phrase appeared prominently on the title page of a popular periodical, The Gentleman's Magazine,[2][3][4] which collected articles from many sources into one "magazine". The motto was suggested in 1776 to the committee responsible for the developing the seal by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere."
Source: Wikipedia
When used as the motto of the United States it does sometimes cause a lump in the throat.
Another term you wish to explore is "solidarity". That is the concept on which Western European societies are built. Whether it's health insurance, unemployment insurance, welfare, help for the dissabled and elderly, "solidarity" is the ruling principle.
We are family! Well. certainly in many ways more than Americans are.
or
We the Corporations... indivisible.
I'm all for pulling my head out of the muck. I'm just not going to say there is no muck until there is no muck.
We are NOT in this together.
I have been doing public speaking on the topic of polarized political speech in the U.S. (and historical precedents that we should be aware of). When it comes to politics, we must continue to find ways to express strong ideas and powerful emotions, and to argue our way through fiercely held differences of opinion. I write "continue" because this has been an ongoing challenge throughout American history. This tension feels particularly exacerbated now in our Information Age, with a cacophony of voices large and small using the megaphone of e-media.
Name-calling, especially when used in the stereotyping, scapegoating and dehumanization of political opponents, is a red flag for us. And by "us", I am referring to Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Tea Partyers and all politically engaged Americans. I hope you and some of your readers will listen to my talk on 7 strategies of polarization currently in use on much of political talk radio and TV. It is posted at
www.stoppolarizingtalk.org
On a more local level, though times are tougher in my community, people are coming together to work solutions to today's challenges. Another ray of hope was pointed out in the article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanne-ball/a-thanksgiving-blessing-f_b_788053.html
I hope others will look towards loving and productive solutions through Jan's article and the other article referenced here. The way to find creative solutions is by being inspired by challenges and working together with compassion.
Thank you for reminding us of how inspirational and cognizant our Founding Fathers really were and giving us a great story to pass along!
"Howard Zinn, the great historian whose "A People's History of the United States" did not gloss over the shadow of our nation's development, wrote about the importance of looking for the goodness and beauty in life. In his essay "The Optimism of Uncertainty," he wrote:
An optimist isn't necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction."
If today's leaders cannot show us the need for compassion and respect (a version of love), then we must be prepared to raise the bar ourselves. Edmund Burke's quote: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" remains relevant today.
WE THE PEOPLE are the government, Randbot. Or have you forgotten that?
Libertarianism is EXACTLY the pestilent scourge Jan is talking of here, who's sole focus is I-Me-Mine. It's a cancer on this nation and will kill it if it is not eradicated.
How exactly am I the government? How is the people the government? WHo is the people? You mean voters? Voters are the government? That's a false statement and you know it. It's people like you who are a cancer on the productive class and a tool for the ruling classes who have benefited most well in democratic systems.