Sunday, August 11, 2019

Is Love All We Need?

Our local newspaper had a supplement today celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Concert - peace and love in the midst of a country at war thousands of miles away.  Our streets were full of protestors. Assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Kennedys were very much on our minds.  Much out there was anything but peace and love.

Now, 50 years later my mind turns to  Charlottesville, Virginia. Today I remember August 12, 2017, the day the white supremacists rallied under the guise of protesting the removal of a statue and one of them drove a car into a crowd and killed a 32 year old woman by the name of Heather Heyer.  Two police were also killed that day, and many people were injured.

Tomorrow, I, and many others, will remember Heather Heyer, the act that killed her and injured dozens of others trying to exercise their right of free speech, the rallies the night before meant to terrorize, and that day that we now remember with anguish.

The driver/killer is in jail, convicted of the crime.  A 32 year old woman's life was cut short and our country still struggles to make sense.  How could there possibly be fine people on both sides? We are afraid to face what our country is becoming.  We pause.  We feel that we've lost our way.

Here are some signs of that day.  It amazed me, in a May 1 visit to Charlottesville, that "Love" seemed to be one of those reactions.
Is love all we need, though?

This is near the scene of that tragic act on May 1 of this year.  A message to those who hate: "You just magnified her."

The street memorial. 
Think about it.  Are we stronger than this hate?
A young woman died here, killed by hate.  We struggle to maintain our democracy.
"We have met the enemy, and he is us" - Walt Kelly, who wrote it in a different context.  But never mind that. Will we have the strength for the days ahead? Slogans are good, but the right actions are better.

Sobering thoughts for a Sunday.
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7 comments:

  1. songbird's crazy worldAugust 11, 2019 at 1:09 PM

    I am an eternal optimist. I keep hoping for a better world, a better future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen BakingInATornadoAugust 11, 2019 at 2:24 PM

    Each day, as we sink lower and lower, the struggle to maintain any level of hope is more difficult. I have certainly had my eyes opened lately about just how prevalent bigotry is in this country. Was I naive? Or is it growing? Hard to say. Sad to have to consider.

    ReplyDelete
  3. peppylady (Dora)August 11, 2019 at 5:07 PM

    50 year ago no social media.
    Coffee is on

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susan KaneAugust 11, 2019 at 6:02 PM

    Social media, lack of moral compass, violence throughout life, mental health, raised in an environment of hate,...

    So many issues, no single cause. No single person to blame. What to do?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Spare Parts and PicsAugust 11, 2019 at 10:32 PM

    Sobering thoughts indeed. And necessary to think about. I sometimes think that the human species has gone beyond its ideal carrying capacity for planet Earth. Too many people, too much traffic, climate change, reduction of natural resources, etc., etc.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Liz A.August 12, 2019 at 8:10 PM

    There's an article floating around about those who participated in that rally. The two years have not been kind to them.

    I'm starting to get optimistic. We've had these issues, these divisions for so long. We had thought we were past them until... And now it's all back out in the open. The best cleanser is sunshine. The ugliness that had hidden for so long (forever?) is getting pushed to the forefront.

    I'm hoping (hence my optimism) that this is our way of clearing some of this hatred out of our collective consciousness. It had to get ugly before it can get better.

    ReplyDelete
  7. bonnieAugust 14, 2019 at 9:08 PM

    I had gone to Ithaca for the Women Swimmin' for Hospicare that I love volunteering for as a paddler, so I was offline for the whole weekend. It was such a horrible shock to get back on to find out what had happened.

    Such sadness.

    ReplyDelete

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