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Everywhere that we have ever lived my son has hung This Poster. He said it is Courage. It is the Tank Man from the Tianamen Square Protests of 1989.He was not even born during those Protests, yet he cherishes the Story of Tank Man. During the Burma demonstrations he said it reminded him of the Tank Man, and he said he knew it was not going to end well. We had long talks about how the Monks of Burma are trying to save the Future generations, they educate all the young there. So the question became WHO here in this Country, Our Country is teaching the young to have Courage.
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Al Gore may win the Nobel Peace Prize for taking a Stand for Something that he cares deeply about. He had the Courage to make a slide show that showed Something that Mattered and spread the Word. The Pictures told the story and he was brave enough show them to all of us. A few weeks ago we saw Courage in Motion , we saw the Monks in Burma walking proudly and quietly in the streets of their Home defying a Military Regime , The Police State of their Government. Have you ever had a moment of Courage or seen Great Courage and hoped that it rubbed off on you ?
"It is better to light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness". Chinese Proverb
"Every Man of Courage is man of his word". Pierre Cornielle
"The Brave Man is not he who feels no fear,for that were stupid and irrational,but he whose noble soul,subdues its fear and bravely dares teh danger nature shrinks from". Joanna Baille
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."
John Wesley
*{Click the Title: GreenPeace Video, Song "You Get What You Give", by the New Radicals]*
12 comments:
you ask some good questions, Enigma... I fear what our young people are learning about courage today because the messages are so conflicting, so unsettling. Is it standing behind a gun and pointing it at somebody they don't know thousands of miles from home?
I have had a few moments of courage, but many more where I was inspired by somebody else's courage...and all involved taking a hard stand against what was wrong in the world, even at personal expense. King and Gandhi come to mind.
Courage is a hard action to take. When you do show courage, it is the onlookers that label the act, not the courageous one. To claim to do something of a courageous nature is to not be couageous at all.
Act from your heart and not your head. Do what you know is right and not how you want others to perceive you. Do this and you'll be courageous. Do it in numbers and it is easier than to act alone on your convictions.
PEACE TO ALL
When I think of 21st century acts of courage, Lt. Watada comes to mind. He refused to deploy to Iraq, saying it is in violation fo the Constitution, and an illegal war. Certainly the Monks in Burma, walking together, barefoot in the streets for justice. The acts they chose were following their heart, and probably not so much thinking or worrying about the immediate consequences so much as this deep *knowing* that they must do what they view as the right thing. But I look at Nelson Mandela.... he suffered all those years as a prisoner in Africa, where it nearly killed him, only later to be released, and then go on to become President. He said "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
How many people would be willing to make that statement out loud? Not all acts of courage require death-- but you are not going to get any more committed than that.
Sometimes courage and leadership comes from simple things, identifying a problem area and coming up with a solution. I admire my son, who saw military recruiters roaming free in the high school halls, and make the necessary connections, got permission, and coordinated w other students to have an anti recruitment table. Same thing with voters registration.
I heard Yolanda King speak (daughter of MLK jr.)
She said we had issues and problems that needed to be addressed, and we (the people stuck in the civil rights discrimination) could not wait for a leader. You should not wait for a leader- get out there and lead. Find your passion and do what you can to make it better.
btw- Tank Man Rocks
You lead by example! Follow you faultless principles if you are lucky enough to possess them. I don't know if it is a lonely road but a happy one to me. The only others I have ever encountered myself are my sons.
Love the tank man!
Ah, Enigma, you lead with your words! Loved the Chinese Proverb.
Peace to you.
It is absolutely up to each of us to attempt to raise our children in a fashion that promotes compassion. It's like that poster - Show compassion and they'll grow up to be compassionate. Show tolerance and they will grow up to be tolerant. We lead by example. And talk to your children. Once you believe they are old enough to understand, watch a news broadcast with them and engage in conversations about what each news item might mean for you, your town or you world.
Robert: what you said is so important...and yes, it is up to us show compassion and that also will teach it...I do believe that watching the news with children is important and explaining it ( as best you can)......Th Tank Man is interesting because there is so little know about him or what happened to him, I was just always struck that to 6-6 he got it- So early and held onto it...that this one man was full of Courage..( since he was about 7 he has called it the Courage Poster...we did not even know until a year ao that the man is called Tank Man).
Daniel: thanks...MrUtopia..thank you for your thoughts...namaste..
JIM: I posted this partly because 6-6 said the monks reminded him of Tank Man...and I was struck by that...and I realized that in many ways we are being challenged daily to find our own path woth Courage....you found it with your sons, but also we all are trying to teach our kids...and show them what they need to know....but he also said something that made me so sad, he pointed out that we were more fortuanate because we had "heroes...real courage" he pointed out that we had MLK, JFK, RFK, etc etc...and I said well you have examples of Courage too, and he said really ? WHO?.....he stumped me....
( I did come up with some later...)
Fran: wow..you really spoke it-- you said so much..it is a whole post in itself..beautiful..Mandela, and LtWatada...but you are right that it is up to all of us to find our way with this and find our own courage...thank you for what you said...
Spadoman: thank you for what you said....there was real wisdom in your words, and you are right that is about acting in numbers...act from your heart and not from your head.
Bluegrrrl, you are right about our young people getting such conflicting messeges, and that is part of the problem...esp when CNN does things like show"heros",. but not show people marching for people in DC....it is a deeper question..I mentioned Burma because I think because the monks teach the children, they take their role, their mission so much more seriously...and you are so right about Ghandi and MLK...but my son pointed out- aren't there any Living ONEs...that was a hard question...
Enigma, did you know the Greenpeace organizaton was started in Vancouver, just two blocks from where I live now. And it was started by some folks who needed courage against what was then called "the establishment". It's devastating to see what has happened to your country, but I think you guys can pull it out of the fire. You just need courage.
Josie: thanks for coming by..and yes, greenpeace is amazing..and yes, they needed and still do need much courage...thanks for having faith in us...I too hope and pray that we can save it...
I think we need the cowardly lion about right now.
God Bless.
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