The Unclad Soul

The Syrian conflict defies reason. What is it about? No one knows. The Syrian government, the Russian government, the US government, and ISIS terrorists—we are all a part of a bloody, inhumane slaughter of innocents. Our news sources are unreliable. We really have no idea what is going on. We see the devastation and the carnage, the heartbreaking chaos, and suffering. But it all goes around in vicious cycles of obscene violence and endless death and no one has any explanation or solution. Other than who can be the most ferocious in war. Our entire political leadership, from President Trump and the full Congress, all the way down to state governments, Texas most notably, are so arrogantly polarized, so consumed with indifference to real life and death issues, to actual living people, that they have nothing helpful or in any way substantial to offer a warring world. Yes, someone is responsible for the chemical explosion in Syria that brought horrifying misery and excruciatin...

I didn’t listen to any news last night. I was on Netflix enjoying a reprieve from the daily chaos. It was this morning that I saw on the news the horror that took place in France last night. What has happened to the human race? I think of Emerson’s sad line, “Man is a god in ruins.” The political pundits are already stirring the pot, pumping politicians for outrageous comments. The politicians are well into their war talk threatening more violence for violence. The security experts are calling for even more surveillance, defense measures, and limitations on the movements of people. But no one seems to be talking about the root of the problem. We can build up defenses and create all kinds of temporary and permanent protections, and those are certainly needed. But what are we going to do about the ideology behind those who have lost any sense of human value? What do we do with dispossessed, angry, psychologically and physically damaged people who don’t care about anyone or a...

Let us give action to our finest impulses, people of this great free land… Let us be superior to our fears, to the easy prejudices, to the ugly urge to hate, to the poison of arrogance, to the quick judgment, to the coward’s tactic of bullying, to the stubbornness of always being right, and to all things that demean, and discredit, that hurt and ruin, that drag all of us away from our giant selves so capable of love… Let us lift our voices in praise of life, in celebration of the human spirit that wants, that craves, that needs goodness… Let us fall on our knees in awe of children, of the wise, of the brave, of the undaunted… Let us clap our hands and stand in honor of soldiers and teachers, of librarians and therapists, of gardeners and wait staff, of flight attendants and firemen, of street vendors and retail clerks, of nursing aids and grill cooks, of bartenders and stay at home moms… Let us speak up for the u...