A Tree
It is understandable why you can't hear the song of a tree.
What is not understandable is why you can't hear the pain you create.
We can all lose our connections.
Connections to the world around us, our community, to our family and friends, to ourselves.
Regret.
Regret for our actions reminds us that we have harmed someone we care about.
We don't want to be the "bad" person.
The person who acts and doesn't care who they harm.
Especially our friends and family.
Where do we draw the line between those we include in our group and those we exclude?
On a playground, children make fun of how a classmate is dressed.
Maybe they came to school that day in their pajamas.
Adolescents believe that becoming an adult is about doing adult things.
If they believe that a person over there hasn't consumed alcohol, hasn't smoked, hasn't had sex, they become the judge, jury, and executioner, condemning that person as an outcast.
A loser.
Most adults don't move far from their own adolescent brains.
A parallel example is How well do you draw?
Most of us stopped drawing sometime as we entered high school.
If you picked up a pencil and were asked to draw a cow, you would render at the very same level as when you last attempted to draw.
However, drawing, like any other skill, has to be exercised to keep in shape.
If you practiced your art for a few weeks, you would improve.
We humans can adapt.
We are not relegated to staying in a self-imposed past.
We can grow.
Growth can only begin once you love yourself.
The foundation.
First, we all need to forgive ourselves.
We need to break the chain of our own making that constrains our true selves.
A universal chain to break is racism.
Most aspects of racism are learned.
The roots are passed down genetically like cancer; its darkness stops the growth of the individual.
Racism stops the growth of the community.
But this is nothing new.
Racists are not ignorant of which side of the line they stand on.
They like where they are at.
They know they don't like you.
Every aspect of their lives informs them, from their community to the God they worship, that they are doing the right thing.
So, how are you going to convince them otherwise?
Do you think telling them they need to grow will change their minds?
Do you think asking them to quiet their minds and listen to the song of trees will allow them to feel regret?
…
…
Ain't going to happen, folks.
Ain't going to happen that way, for sure.
It's like standing out before a mountain and trying to call it down with your voice.
Humans don't work that way.
You're not going to convince a racially motivated person to vote for you because you say change is right for them.
Give the other side a chance.
Ain't going to happen.
The people who support the President are not concerned with who they harm.
We are not part of their group, part of their America.
We aren't even human beings in their eyes.
They don't want to come together.
They don't want to move to the city.
They don't want to be told they are wrong.
They would rather burn down the forest than allow for the possibility that they could be wrong.
They can't hear us.
They really honestly can't hear us…
What do we do?
What can we do?
We grow…
We grow ourselves.
We grow and become bigger and stronger than hate.
We grow our community one day, one person at a time.
We grow our organizations, we reach for our brothers and sisters, and we encourage those who are reluctant to get involved.
We grow by standing together, holding to the truth, and the fair application of justice for all.
We grow a smile
A smile that's more powerful and does more good than any rhetoric could do.
We demonstrate through the actions of our lives and our community that we are happy.
We are a happy bunch.
We grow…
Happy to have a family of every race, color, and gender, young and old.
The seed that casts itself upon the hard ground will never grow.
Hardened hearts…
Hardened ears…
Will never know the joy of that first green burst of a new life.
Time wears away the mountain…
But nothing in this universe will break a racists belief.
Regret will whisper into the hardened ears as they witness the happiness they refused to join.
From the hard, lonely places of the world, new ears will grow.
They will ask…
What is that sound?
We will answer…
Love.
Peace
Daniel J Frey aka Toby