You would have to be living in a cave not to be aware of the news that is focused on what is happening in our country. Protests are surfacing and people are getting hurt. Most of the country does not have a true understanding of how law enforcement needs to operate to do their work and at the same time, work with the public within their neighborhoods.
We have the freedom of speech for a very important reason. Our speech is necessary. Our willingness to protest is necessary. Our vocal chords are the single most important parts of our being. Recently it has become a detriment, affecting the importance of expressing our love of the country we have built. The public is scared. The public does not know how to handle what has been captured on camera. Emotions speak volumes, whether we have the full, absolute truth or not. We need to be more conscious of our emotions and use the brain, we were given to make intelligent decisions. If we act without thought, we lose our hope for a peaceful conclusion.
For myself, all I can think of is the idea of "hope." Hope generates a mindfulness that helps us make the right decisions. We need to speak truthfully and with intelligence. We need to think about our loved ones and our own lives to move towards difficult resolutions that make the peace happen. We have the freedom of speech because when we care enough to peacefully protest. We are protected. That is our right in this country. The very idea that our freedom could be compromised is in my view, extremely sad, if not well...terrifying. But then again, we can be terrified of many things and rightly so. But...be not afraid.
History has repeated itself and taught us a great deal. We need to remember what we have learned. We need to remember that respect, intelligence and grace take us a long way far beyond history. But again, we have to hold on to our educaton and remember our values. Our values are the key to keeping society peaceful. We need to educate our young people the values of respect and learning how to handle adversity. There are so many fine examples of how we became a more peaceful society by watching how so many sacrificed their fear for doing the right thing.
Protesting can not be offensive. It can not instill fear. Well, rather it can not cause the public to be fearful. Protest has to promote change. We have to listen and we have to keep hopeful. This is how we keep the peace. We keep the peace not through fear or anger but through respect. Lastly, we can admit we were wrong without consequences but through telling the truth. The absolute truth saves us and makes us less fearful. It makes us a society that is compassionate and a society that looks after its own...that includes everyone.
