Be not Afraid

[sheshe2]

Judith U @Autismville

To the stranger who took me into her home, gave me soup and tea to stop my shaking and a phone to call home, thank you. #BostonMarathon2013

We don’t know who did it.

We don’t know if he was a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew.

We don’t know if he was left wing or right wing.

We don’t know if it was done with a political purpose in mind, or if his mind merely snapped, lashing out at a society of which he wasn’t a part.

At this point, we know nothing about the bomber at today’s Boston Marathon.

But I will not cower in fear.

I will not listen to the ones with the megaphones who are already using this as an excuse to settle political scores.

I will not hide in my room, or acquiesce to give up a bit of freedom for safety. Giving up one rarely secures you the other.

I will not pound my chest and say that the answer is more guns on the street, so that we’re all deputized, armed, dangerous.

I will not let hatred blind me.

I will run towards the danger, like hundreds of citizens did in Boston.

I will open my home to those who suffered and lost.

I will stay resolute that fear will not prevail.

I will trust that this country will feel its way towards doing the right thing. It always, eventually, does.

Our instinct is to give up on our fellow humans. One of my first reactions was to root for global warming to do its worst.

But that hopelessness is the one thing which will condemn us to extinction.

Hope is what keeps humanity going; it’s the only thing keeping us from falling into the abyss. Once we’ve lost hope, we’ve lost what makes us human.

I will not lose hope.

We don’t know what prompted the bomber to commit his act. But one thing we can assume with a clear certainty is that hope was lost in him.

I will not be that man.

I will not succumb to the thought that humanity is a cesspit, doomed to fall. One man bombed a race. Hundreds raced towards the explosions, to help out their fellow human beings. I’m with them.

I will not be afraid. That’s when I lose.

****

Chips: Follow Liberal Librarian on Twitter and read him at The People’s View



http://theobamadiary.com/2013/04/15/be-not-afraid/

[annabanana]

1. Thank you for this. . .n/t

[freshwest]

2. 'For eight years, it was popular to be afraid... Unpopular to be for hope and opportunity...'

The depth of those words from this wise woman still ring true:

'The game of politics is to make people so afraid they can't think.'

The fearful and cynical keep repeating Palin's 'How's that hopy-changy thing workin' for ya?'

It's working well for me and the people I know in real life. We know what our part in making this work is, and we know it's not easy.

In short, if you’re still disappointed in Barack Obama, it’s only because you never understood whose job it was to produce change in the first place. But don’t take out your own failings in this regard on the rest of us... ~Tim Wise.

Thanks for posting this, I'd never seen her giving a talk that was so long and explained the reasons for all of this.

[Cha]

3. Thank you she..

Liberal Librarian says it brilliantly! No Fear.

[Politicub]

4. I hadn't seen this

Thank you for posting it.

The liberal librarian rocks.

[IrishAyes]

5. Ditto