The Teacher

This post started the same as most of my writing, something happens and then I want to share  it. Usually I try not to write as though what I am sharing is the absolute truth, or so overwhelmingly full of introspect and deep thought that it will rock the foundations of human consciousness. Even though I tend to actually feel that way…

Any-who, after carefully mulling over what I wanted to write about, shaking out my typing fingers, and sitting at the keyboard (feeling less than humble), I checked my Facebook page.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves, first I need to tell you about my great epiphany.

The Epiphany

Ok. Lets get right to it. I was treating my wife badly.

Again.

Maybe this is a favorite past time, I do not know. But it sure gives me a hobby.

So, I started thinking. I would never, ever, ever, treat a stranger the way I was treating my wife. This made me very reflective and I thought – maybe everyone is that way. Maybe we all treat the people closest to us, the worst.

That just seems so wrong. So terrible. And I do not want to do it anymore. So I explore. I go deep. I ask myself why?

Well, because she is there.

Wait a second, that is ridiculous. She is not a mountain.

Try as I might, that was the answer. That was the truth of the thing. My wife was the victim of the same love that made her my wife.

Could this be a part of love, a part of how a close and trusted companion should support one of us?

Before I could answer that, I started looking at my Facebook page. That is where I saw a post from my sister that was recommending a movie.

Now, my sister has seen more of life than most of us, so I should have known this could get weird – and it did.

The Whistleblower

The movie was called The Whistleblower and I am just telling you now, it is very intense. If you do not want to see how horrible humanity can be then you should not watch it. Sorry to get serious here and I will try to keep it light…but it is not light. Or maybe it is, I just do not know.

But I can tell you this, there is more to how love and humanity relates to itself than any of us can comprehend.

The IMDB description of the movie is this - A drama based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.

That sounded doable to me. Which is important to note here, because I do not like to see movies like this movie ended up to be. I am very sensitive and need to be dragged in, or tricked. But we all need to be aware of these things, of the duality, the reality, the ugliness and the beauty of humanity.

In her post my sister went on to say something to the effect of “…in my experience overseas I saw the best of humanity and the worst of humanity…” and this movie shows both.

But seeing the worst of humanity in this movie is a little tough. The horrible way that the women are treated is just too much, it is incomprehensible.

The Truth is Hard to Take

Why do I think every human being should see the movie, why should you watch the movie? Because just watching a news story on television or reading a newspaper article about human trafficking and sex slavery doesn’t cut it. You cannot understand or really grasp what is happening. And you need to. We all need to. That is the only hope.

Beside the fact this movie really shook me up, it made me realize my gigantic epiphany about human relationships – stemming from my insight regarding my treatment of my wife – was rather trite. In some ways.

It made me realize the world is a very big place. And there are people who treat others horribly. And in ways I could not have come up with on my own or ever imagined.

Despair can settle in deeply when you begin to wake up to this. When you decide you want to help, to contribute, to do something, anything, about this. But do not let despair set in. Become conscious. Care. These are the things we can all do. Even those of us that are afraid of getting our hands dirty or physically inserting ourselves into the fray.

Pumped Up Kicks

Then another thing happened. It is always like that, there is a theme of thought or reflection for a while. You know what I mean?

There is a song called Pumped Up Kicks, by Foster the People. I love the tune and always enjoy hearing it when it comes on the radio but I had no idea what the song was about. I just liked the tune.

On SiriusXM radio there is a channel called the Coffee House with mostly acoustic music. A lot of the songs are only played on SiriusXM because they get recorded in their studio, and while I was driving on Sunday I heard just such a song. Foster the People playing an acoustic version of the song Pumped Up Kicks, and it blew me away!

The lyrics are actually quite disturbing, and show yet another aspect of our humanity. You cannot purchase this version because it is a SiriusXM exclusive, but you can see it on YouTube and I am posting it here. You have to watch this!

What Can We Do

So, what does all this mean? What kind of species are we? What does it mean to be a responsible human being? Are each of us supposed to drop what we are doing and go help the rest of humanity?

My whole life has been tormented by knowing that more than 25% of humans are starving. That does not mean they are hungry like you feel sometimes, that means they are starving. To death!

You cannot even comprehend that. Even if you think you can. It is impossible. It is too terrible to fully grasp. And there is a lot of other stuff too.

Ultimately, if you think about it at all, humanity is fully capable of preventing this. The world, right now, with current technology and resources, can easily eliminate starvation on this planet. Think about it.

You still cannot believe what I just said. But it is true. 100 percent!

Why don’t we?

Mostly because there are not enough people that will honestly even ask themselves that one question.

Facing Myself in the Mirror

Ok, so I have thought about this my entire adult life. All of it. And you ask, well, why aren’t you over in Africa or somewhere doing something about it?

Because I do not have the guts.

Because I am selfish.

And because I am overwhelmed by it all.

But I can admit it. I can get honest about it. I can remain willing to pick this horrible truth up and examine it closely. Will you?

The moral of this story is that while we may not be capable of, or willing to physically drop our wonderful life here and go to a far off and much less wonderful land – we can make a difference.

We can make sure that we care. That we think about it and continue to face the truth of it. That we do everything in our power to elevate our own consciousness; and by doing so contribute to the elevation of all human consciousness. This is how things will truly change.

I really believe it works this way.

I choose to have this hope. This faith.

Maybe we will find that the world really can change when those of us with the power and freedom to do so, do so.