What Is or What Ought to Be?

Do we know what is right and what is wrong? Can something be “right” in my eyes and “wrong” in yours? Is right and wrong always “black and white?” Do we know what is good and what is evil?  Are we always right?  Do we always do the good?  Of course not.  We all fall short of perfection (is there a “perfect”?).  We are not always as kind as we ought to be, which means we have some idea of what kindness ought to be.   We are not always as loving as we ought to be, which means we have some idea of what loving ought to be.  We do not demonstrate the life we know we ought to demonstrate, which means we have some idea of what life is meant to be. Our frailty in terms of living up to the “standards” (what ought to be) make it extremely hazardous for us who live in glass houses to throw stones.  “You, sir, why do you pass judgment on your brother?  And you, sir, why do you hold your brother in contempt?….Let us therefore cease judging one another, but rather make this simple judgment:  that no obstacle or stumbling-block be placed in a brother’s way” (Romans 14:10ff).

Does Paul mean that we should forget about right and wrong? Does he imply that we should not hold our brother or sister to account? Does Paul mean to suggest that we ignore the standards (what ought to be) of decency,  courage, and caring and never say a word in judgment or in protest?  Of course not. We know that both we and our brothers and sisters do not demonstrate the life we know we ought to demonstrate.  But we must never lose sight of the standard (what life ought to be).  We must never cease to raise that standard up, and ever seek to live it out ourselves and encourage others to do the same.  Similarly, the American Dream is not something we have demonstrated as a nation throughout our history, but it is the standard (what ought to be) by which we seek to live and if we lose the standard, we lose everything.

Do we hold different “standards” (you can use “values” if that suits you better) of what is right and what is wrong?  Is that our present dilemma?  Or have we lost the standards (values) that once seemed to bind us together as a society?  Does “kindness” mean something different for you than it does for me?  Does “loving” have a different meaning for you than it does for me?  Have we lost the “what ought to be” and settled for whatever is at the moment?

Is there a Lighthouse to rescue us from the restless
waves?  Is there a "Standard"--a "What Ought to Be" or
is it simply my way or your way?

Fratricide Will Do Us In

We know from the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of the Palace of Knossos in Crete, the ancient Parthenon of Athens, and the tumbling Colosseum of Rome that great and wondrous human societies have arisen and flourished for a season and then have disappeared.  Abraham Lincoln wondered,  as many others have and still do,  if the American experiment, the American Dream,  would eventually go the way of the Egyptian, Minoan, Athenian and Roman civilizations.  Would these United States succumb to the same outcomes and if so, how would it happen?  Lincoln decided that the fall of America, if it were to come, would not come by military aggression from the outside, but from inner decay.  “At what point then,” he wrote, “is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, ‘If it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us.  It cannot come from abroad.  If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.  As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.’”

The Civil War was one such suicidal attempt.  It was fratricide.  And that fratricide continued after the war in many and varied forms in the treatment of people of color, women, children, immigrants, etc.  The threat to the United States did not come from without (and it still does not come from without).  It “springs up amongst us.”  We are “its author and finisher.”  

Suicide is the act of taking one’s own life.  Fratricide is the act of taking the life of one’s brother or sister (or a fellow countryman).  We do ourselves in and commit a kind of suicide when we ignore the Dream.  We make ourselves small when we are meant to be great. We do our brothers and sisters an injustice and commit a form of fratricide when we bully, threaten, label, and put the other down.  It is this  basic lack of “morality” that will bring about our decline as human beings and as a human society called America. 

The American Dream will fade and no doubt die if we abandon the moral responsibility to be our brother and sister’s keeper and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We can destroy ourselves (suicide) by our mean-spirited behavior toward our brothers and sisters (fratricide).

Who Am I? Where Do I Fit?

We are all familiar with Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation,” and the generation called the “Baby Boomers” (1946-1964).  Most are familiar with the  Generations X, Y, and Z.  But, and suddenly those words from “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer” pop into my head and I want to sing out, “But…do you recall…” with a slight variation of words and with tongue in cheek:  “But… do you recall the most famous generation of all!”  I mean my generation.  The generation labeled by Time Magazine back in 1951 as The Silent Generation. It consists of the 50 million people born between the years 1925 and 1945.  I came into the world at the tail-end of that cycle—which explains my schizophrenic nature and my uncomfortable straddling between Brokaw’s “Greatest” (“those get-it-done G.I.s”) and those vocal “hippie world-changing” Boomers.  Most of the Silent Generation lived through the Great Depression and all of World War II.  I did not.  Who am I, then?  Should we sneak in another generational name or grouping—one that labels those of us who cannot remember either the Great Depression or the War? Or do we just have the dates mixed up for each generation?  Every researcher seems to classify the generations with a new set of dates.

That 1951 Time article, for example, defined the Silent Generation as those born from 1923 to 1933.  Those parameters do not include me!  I’m kind of pleased about that because the article suggested that those of the Silent Generation were grave and fatalistic, conventional, with confused morals and always expecting disappointment.  “Youth today,” the article said of those of us now in our 70’s, “is waiting for the hand of fate to fall on its shoulders, meanwhile working fairly hard and saying almost nothing.  The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence.  With some rare exceptions, youth is nowhere near the rostrum.  By comparison with the Flaming Youth (the Roarin’ 20’s) of their fathers and mothers, today’s younger generation is a still, small flame.  It does not issue manifestoes, make speeches or carry posters.  It has been called the ‘Silent Generation.’”  William Manchester commented that this Silent Generation was “withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent.”  That doesn’t sound like me.  Other researchers have called this generation the “Seekers,” and in England it has been named the “Air Raid” Generation.  I just don’t seem to fit these descriptions or maybe I just don’t want to fit into them.  

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a member of the Silent Generation—he was born in 1929.  Who am I? Where do I, born in 1943,  fit in? Maybe I’m just one of those “War Babies,” born between 1939 and 1945, which include Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel, Al Pacino, Muhammad Ali, Bob Woodward, John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi.  Yes, that seems to fit me well.  At last, I know where I fit!  I still don’t know quite who I am!

Geography And Generations X, Y, & Z

Yesterday I drove across the northern tier of Maryland to visit my grandson.  He is currently a student at Western Maryland University.  I enjoyed being on the road again even if only for a day and even  though I wasn’t driving  Odysseus (our miniature RV).  It is a  three and a half  hour drive to Austin’s campus from our home on the Eastern Shore.  The state of Maryland has three geographical areas:  the Coastal Plain (both sides of the Chesapeake Bay, including the Eastern Shore), the Piedmont Plateau (the area separating the Appalachian Mountains and the coastal area), and Western Maryland (the Appalachian Mountains with elevations ranging from 1000 to 3000 feet).  Each geographical area is unique.  Each area has its own charm and beauty.  

Thinking about those three geographical areas of Maryland somehow caused me to focus on the three most recent Generations, called X, Y, and Z.  I am part of the “Silent Generation” (1925-1945).  Those born after WWII (1946 to 1964) are labeled the Baby Boomers. My three children are Generation X (1964-c.1978).  Two  of my grandchildren belong to Generation Y or the Millennials (1980 to 1995), and four are considered Generation Z (1996 to the present).   Like Maryland’s geography these generations are connected, but are at the same time quite distinct from one another, each having unique characteristics.

Austin and his brother Nick are members of the latest generation to be born—Generation Z. (I don’t know what on earth we’ll call the next generation since we seem to have used up the alphabet).  Generation Z-ers  (post-Millennials) were born into a society “where information, education and everything else, is just a click away.”  They have used the Internet since a young age and are generally comfortable with technology and with social media. At their fingertips there is a technology that just a few years ago was unthinkable (and for their grandparents a technology that remains unthinkable). What will they do with it?  Generation Z-ers presently make up 26% of the US population—by 2020 they will account for one-third of the US population.  They can process information faster than any previous generation.  They can “create a document on their school computer, do research on their phone or tablet, while taking notes on a notepad, then finish in front of the TV with a laptop, while face-timing a friend.”  They are more global-minded, have higher expectations and accept diversity more readily than any previous generation. 

This is why I drove through three geographical areas of Maryland yesterday (three and a half hours each way) to have lunch with my grandson—four generations removed!  Austin and his generation give me hope and I’ll travel a long way to bask in that hope these days.

The Rule of Law

The presumption of innocence is the principle that one is considered innocent unless proven guilty.  In most states the presumption of innocence is a legal right of the accused in a criminal trial. This principle is also an international human right under the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights.  The principle, presumption of innocence,  is a  part of the basic rule of law by which our nation and society operate under the Constitution.  A person is determined guilty only when sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt is provided (by the accuser or prosecution) to convince judge or jury that the person is guilty. Just as all are innocent until proven guilty (the presumption of innocence) so too, no one is exempt from this rule of law.  No one from the very top all the way down to the lowest rung of the government or societal ladder, is "above the law" and all persons no matter their social status are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The rule of law is the legal principle which says that law governs our nation and society rather than any arbitrary decision, proclamation or announcement of an individual government official or the opinions, accusations, or pronouncements by an ad hoc crowd. (Such crowds are called lynch mobs).

The rule of law was abrogated during the 2016 political campaign when crowds were encouraged to proclaim "Lock her up" and "Crooked Hillary.” This mantra violated the principle of presumption of innocence and the rule of law. No government official, political party, or crowd can pronounce guilt upon anyone without sufficient evidence according to the rule of law.  Sufficient evidence was not provided to warrant this mantra, nor had judge or jury (the rule of law) determined guilt.  Thus the arbitrary pronouncement by Mr. Trump and the echoing of the same by supporters (not only in this case but innumerable others since) abridged the principles of presumption of innocence and the rule of law.

Mr. Trump seems to see himself above the law. He sometimes disparages the rule of law and the presumption of innocence that proclaims everyone and anyone is innocent until proven guilty (by virtue of sufficient evidence and determined by judge or jury in a court of law).  His claims and announcements about the guilt, innocence, or patriotism of others are unacceptable under the Constitution without the submission of sufficient evidence to prove such guilt through the normal legal system.  Those opposed to Mr. Trump must also beware of abrogating this legal principle of the Constitution.  Mr. Trump must be presumed innocent until guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt under the rule of law.  Let’s not violate this human right for anyone.

Love: A Costly Thing

Over and over again the Alfa Romeo "commercial" appears on the TV screen and I hear the wonderful music that accompanies it.  I am carried away into a state of ecstatic enchantment--not by the magnificent Alfa Romeo automobiles sliding around on ice--but by the beauty of the music that seems to reach into the very depths of my being. I don't know why this particular music moves me so.  I don't know why it almost brings me to tears.  All I know is that it has a powerful effect on my spirit, my soul, or whatever.  You have probably seen this commercial and I wonder if the music affects you the same way it affects me.

The music accompanying the two, red,  skating, sliding,  gliding  Alfa Romeo autos on an ice rink is  "Wicked Game" by Ursine Vulpine and features Annaca (whatever that means).  It can be downloaded from iTunes (which I have done).  For the last week or so I have listened to it almost every morning trying to figure out what it is about this music that moves me so. Is it just the music itself? Is it the lyrics? Is it both?

 "I never dreamed I'd meet somebody like you

And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

No I don't want to fall in love

No I don't want to fall in love with you."

The song was written by Chris Isaak back in 1989.  I don’t recall ever hearing it back then.   Somewhere I read that it was used in a Jaguar automobile commercial in the U.K. and Australia a few years ago, and that it was also featured in a David Lynch film "Wild at Heart" in 1990.  But I do not recall ever hearing either the music or the lyrics until the Alfa Romero commercial began in December last year.

I think both the music and the lyrics (primarily the refrain) speak of the burden and the joy of loving.  I am not referring necessarily to romantic love, but to love in general.  We have all loved somebody. We never dreamed we would meet somebody like that particular person, never dreamed we could ever love anyone so much.  Then, we lose that person (in whatever way)—never dreaming that we would or could ever lose somebody we loved so much.  But it happens, and when it happens there is that within us that says, “No I don’t want to fall in love” anymore.  I don’t want to bear the struggle, hurt, the loss, or the pain that love brings—and sometimes having once loved—prevents us from loving again.  Maybe that is what the music and the lyrics say to me—Love is not a cheap throw-away.  Love is a costly thing that we often do not want to buy into because it has been so expensive for us in the past.

Love is not cheap.  It takes everything that is within you.
Listening to one another is the first step.

Tax Day and A Dictionary

Today is April 15—Tax Day or T-Day!  April 15 has always been Tax Day as far back I can remember.  In fact, April 15 became Tax Day back in 1955 when I was 12-years-old!  I can understand a one-day delay since today is Sunday—but why two days?  Why is Tax Day April 17 instead of April 16?   Is it because of the new changes in the tax law?  Founding Father Benjamin Franklin famously said that the only things certain in this world were death and taxes and I just assumed April 15 was just as certain as the taxes.  April 17 is Tax Day because today is Sunday and tomorrow, Monday, April 16, is Emancipation Day in Washington DC.  The Compensated Emancipation Act freed thousands of slaves in the District of Columbia when Abraham Lincoln signed it on April 16, 1862.  Tax Day this year is April 17!

On April 15, 1755, A Dictionary of the English Language, written by Samuel Johnson, was published.  It is considered the most influential dictionary in the history of the English language and remained so for nearly 173 years until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary.  Johnson’s dictionary contained 42,773 words.  The Second Edition the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 contemporary words, and 47,156 obsolete words.   

Johnson’s Dictionary was somewhat unique.  To illustrate the meaning of each word, Johnson used literary quotations (nearly 114,000 of them).  His choice of authors for these quotations included the great ones like Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, and Swift.  Johnson’s use of quotations to define words, prompted me many years ago to use quotations to undergird and to define my own thoughts and writing.  One example of Johnson’s use of quotation is seen in his definition of the word “Opulence:  Wealth; riches; affluence.” Then this quote from Jonathan Swift: 

“There in full opulence a banker dwelt,

Who all the joys and pangs of riches felt;

His sideboard glitter’d with imagined plate,

And his proud fancy held a vast estate.”

Johnson also used humor and his own prejudices in many of his word definitions as in “Oats:  a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.”  Or as in “Lexicographer:  a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words.”  

It would be deeply frustrating to live in a world without words.