Expedition

I’ve been looking forward to a school snowshoeing expedition for the last couple weeks that would fall on my half birthday—a day off from school to get fresh air and play in the snow, and a way to mark the fact that in six months I will be eighteen.

But by the time our group rounded off the second mile, I was exhausted and cold, the two-pound metal shoes causing my feet to sink through the snow instead of walking on top of it.  I was barely keeping up at the back of the line when Mrs. Cavalero told us all to turn around and head back to the picnic area we’d passed an hour before, and as I hurried after the other kids I tripped and fell face-first into the snow.

One thing they don’t tell you about snowshoeing is that you can’t get back up on your own.  It’s like roller skating: your feet get all tangled up under you, and if someone else doesn’t come to your rescue you have to crawl over and hoist yourself up with a tree branch.  So I just laid in the snow, too tired to crawl away, feeling sorry for myself and thinking about how stupid I was to sign up for this.  I’m not athletic—I can barely walk to the store, let alone hike up a mountain with metal contraptions strapped to my feet.  I should have just stayed at home and worked on the pile of homework I already have.

When I finally got up onto my knees, I found two boys hurrying back towards me.  Josh and Darby, the two appointed pack leaders, had been racing each other all day in an attempt to be first, but they’d both come back to help me.  They pulled me to my feet, but when I stumbled again and landed back on my knees, they did more than just that.  They linked arms and carried me.

I don’t know how hard it is to carry someone while wearing snow shoes.  I can’t imagine it’s easy.  But they carried me halfway back to our lunch tables, and even when they put me down again they stayed there, putting out a hand whenever I missed a step.  They didn’t ask for anything in return, just conversation and an easy laugh when they broke out in a mini snowball fight.  And when I lent Darby a quarter to buy coffee, he gave me a high five and exclaimed, “I love people!”   

You know what, Darby? Me too.

Thank you for showing me what kind of person I should be.

-Amanda

The price of convictions

What matters is not the idea a man holds,

but the depth at which he holds it.

~Ezra Pound

The topic of convictions has been floating around in my head lately and I thought it might make a good topic. So here goes... How strongly do you hold onto your convictions? Is there a situation where it is ok to let go of what you believe in so that you can gain what you really want?

There have been two incidents in the news this week where people have let go of their long standing convictions and that has really bugged me. I might not always agree with what you believe in, but if you are willing to stand up for your beliefs and defend them I can at least respect you. In these two cases I can't give them any respect. For the change that they adopted didn't come about because after much soul searching they realized their beliefs were wrong, instead they traded what they believed in for money and power.

First news broke that after years of a zero tolerance policy the boy scouts of America were contemplating removing their ban on homosexual scouts and scout leaders. At first I was thrilled by this news, I have long been a proponent of gay rights and have felt that the boy scouts were wrong to ban gays, but then I read more into it and found the real reason they are considering this huge departure from their previously stated beliefs. Money. Turns out after the statement the boy scouts of America released last year reaffirming the ban on gay scouts and leaders, there was both a public and financial backlash, and while the public outcry didn't cause them to bat an eye, the financial hit did. According to several board members that spoke to NBC news on condition of anonymity, it was this loss of sponsors that has caused the boy scouts to reconsider. I find this sad, if you think gays should be allowed in the boy scouts because its the right thing to do, then do it for that reason and that reason alone. If they remain "morally opposed" to gays as they said last year, then keep the ban and damn the consequences. You don't get to do both, your convictions shouldn't be for sale.

The second incident was the republican party changing their stance on immigration. The party of giant boarder walls, minute men, and self deportation, is now talking about comprehensive immigration reform and allowing a path to citizenship. Again I love the outcome, I believe that we should have immigration reform, and that reform must include a path to citizenship, but I find it frustrating that after years of being against it, the republicans are for it, not because it is the right thing to do, but for power. Last weekend many republicans took to the airwaves talking about how they couldn't be a "stupid" party, how if they wanted to remain relevant as a party they must change. They talked about how Barack Obama won 7 of 10 votes from Latino voters, if a republican wants to become president they can't overcome those kinds of numbers. So poof now the republican party is for helping illegal immigrants become citizens, just like that. They are willing to sacrifice their ideals for a chance at power, but if you are given that power, without convictions, how can you govern fairly?

These are but two examples of something that I am sure happens a thousand times a day, these groups do not have a monopoly on this, they are simply the ones that sparked this thought. How? How is this possible? I can't do it that's for sure. I can't auction my values to the highest bidder, or pretend to not be who I have always been long enough to be voted into power. I will question my beliefs, I will seek out other points of view, and if in that soul searching I find that I am in the wrong, then and only then will I change. If you truly want to make a difference in this world you must stand for something, you must believe in it with everything you have. For if you don't, if your values are empty shells that can be filled on a whim, then you are truly lost and you have my pity.

Troy Mangum 

MLK

“Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride”

-“Pride (In the Name of Love) U2

I am delayed in writing about the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  On Monday I watched an African American man be sworn in as President for a second term, on Martin Luther King Day. How fitting and perfect.

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

DR. King died fighting for the right that all people should be treated equal. Have the same rights. Be treated with love and kindness. He fought for this with such passion and against such hatred. He died fighting for what was right.

If we all could take the same stance, fight for what’s right. Fight for EQUALITY. Make ourselves heard, this world would be a much better place.  

Thank you Dr. King, for your passionate fight, your strength and wisdom and the mark that you have left on this world.  

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” 
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Am I my brother's keeper?

"Am I my brother's keeper?"

Gen 4:9

This is the question that I am asking myself today... Do we have a responsibility to watch out for and care for one another? Or is the only obligation we truly have to ourselves?

Am I my brother's keeper? To me the only answer is yes. I say that with such conviction that is almost impossible for me to see any other answer as possible. We can not and should not stand alone, for no matter where we are in this life we have only succeeded because of others who were willing to help us along the way and a healthy dose of sheer luck. Sometimes we forget that, sometimes our successes are ours alone, and our setbacks are due to others. We forget the sacrifices our parents went through to ensure a better life for us, we forget the countless hands that guided us on the right path and kept us from falling. Without them would you be where you are today? Without them can you not picture yourself in a place where you might  need help, not because your lazy, or a bad person, or made bad choices, but just because no one was there when you needed that push.

The harder question I have is this: Can we force someone else to help? Can we make others do the right thing? As individuals: No I don't think we can, they have the right to choose just as I do, and while I might not respect their choice I will respect there right to make that choice. As groups and companies: Yes I think we can. The United States is a republic, a republic where the majority rules, but not at the expense of the minority. When the need arises to protect the minority the goverment has the moral authority to step in force the hand of those who are unwilling to help.

I truly believe that it is our moral duty to care for one another, to help those in need, for after all is said and done and we have left this life behind us, which will be more important to those we left behind, how much money we made, or how much help we gave to others. Money is finite, you can't take it with you when you go, but hope and love, that carries with us into the next great journey lighting our way to paradise. We all share this world, we are all connected, and we are all of us our brother's keeper.

Change

Ghandi told us to "Be the change you wish to see in the world," and I'm trying hard to live by that motto.  Unfortunately our country still suffers from inequality, and everywhere I go I still hear gay slurs and homophobic comments, even from people who don't intend to put such menace behind their words.  But that, to me, is not the problem.  The problem is when we send hate back to them, when we discriminate against them for discriminating against others.  It doesn't work like that.

We have to love, and love and love and love and love.  That's the only option.  That is the only way things will ever change.

Amanda

I have a dream

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,

That all men are created equal."

Tomorrow is a momentous day in the history of our nation. On the day we set aside to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Barack Obama will be sworn in to begin his second term as president of the United States of America. So the question is... Has the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. fought and died for been realized? Are we truly one nation of equals, or is there still more work to be done?

For me this is a tough question, and the only way for me to answer it is to separate the cause that Dr. King fought for with his ultimate dream of equality. If I only look at the cause, then I would say yes, we have reached the goal set forth. While racism is still seen in some places and in some people, the vast majority of people truly do follow Dr. King's hope that we will judge not by the color of skin, but by the content of their character. Barack Obama is proof of that. A man born to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas grew up to hold the highest job in America. He won the presidency based on his ideas, and the hope that he gave to so many, not because of the color of his skin. I believe the cause of racial equality that Dr. King died for has been achieved.

But what about his dream? The dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." Has this dream been achieved? I have to say sadly that it has not, for we are not a nation of equals, and will never be as long as our Homosexual brothers and sisters are kept separate and denied basic rights that the rest of us take for granted. The ways and means of the oppression has changed, but that does not make it better. Until we give everyone equality we will all continue to suffer, suffer because of the people we could be, the nation we could be, the species we could be, remains just beyond our grasp and remains an elusive dream. We can see that dream and we struggle each day to make it more of a reality, if not for us to enjoy, then at least for our children. One day we will make that dream come true. I hope I will be here to see it, to finally taste true freedom.

"And when that happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing words of the old Negro spiritual:

 Free at last! Free at Last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at Last!"

Troy

I stand for...

Troy way to start off with a musical lyric for inspiration! I like it.
The question seems easy enough, but the answer has been hard to come across. I've been hitting backspace for 10 minutes now. Time to just answer.
I stand for a lot of different things. What sticks out most for me right now is that I stand for honesty and truth, not only to others but to yourself. Sometimes it's hard to be honest about your opinions and thoughts on issues. Are people going to still like me? Will this piss them off? I have just recently been honest with people in what I believe with certain issues, I didn't get all positive responses but it feels so good. So freeing. Say what you believe in. Even if everyone around you is going to stare, laugh or scream. Be honest. Be respectful. Stand true to who you are what YOU believe in.  
Embrace it. Love it.

-Mandi aka Chewy

What do I stand for?

The moment we cease to hold each other,

the moment we break faith with one another,

the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

-James Baldwin

 

This is a question I've asked myself a lot, and it's come up more and more the older I get. What do I stand for? When is it okay to laugh, and when do I have to speak my mind? How far am I willing to let people push me before I draw the line?

The answer, right now--the answers are always changing--is people. I believe in people. I believe in being gentle and honorable even when you aren’t treated with the gentleness or honor you deserve.  I believe in loving each other. I believe in being kind.   

At my school we're always searching for the capital T Truth, always arguing and debating about the differences in reality and morality and perception. Philosophers have done this for years. And I've decided that I don't want to be a philosopher: I already know my Truth. The world can be cold and uncaring, and for all we know we are the only life forms in a giant, cosmic universe that is big beyond our comprehending. We have no undeniable proof of heaven or hell or rebirth. It is possible that this single, tiny life, short in the scheme of our planet and miniscule in the scheme of the galaxy, is all we will ever have. And we need to hold on to each other, every other being that shares this rocky world, because it’s so easy to get lost in the odds that mount against us. We need to learn how to treat each other with kindness and gentleness, and maybe we can make this the Heaven we're all searching for.
 
Amanda

 

What do you stand for?

I'm still not sure what I stand for.

What do I stand for?

What do I stand for?

Most nights, I don't know anymore...

"Some nights" by Fun

What do you stand for? What is it that you fight for? What is it that drives you forward? That is todays question... In one or two words tell us what you stand for and why you fight for it.

For me I stand for Hope. Hope for others, hope for those who have given up on hope. I think hope is the most important thing there is, hope that tomorrow will be better than today, hope that if I can just make it over this hurdle it will be smooth sailing ahead. Without hope is depression, without hope we stop living and just survive.

I work with severly Autistic children, and I work so hard each day to give them a brighter future, and to return a little hope into their parents hearts. I often come home bleeding, and my body is covered in scars, but I am okay with that, it is a price I am willing to pay. Everytime I bleed I hope for myself that tomorrow will be better than today, (and that we didn't run out of bandaids yet) but I also hope for them, a hope that the pain and frustration that they feel each day is lessend, even a little bit, by my being in their lives. I return hope to the parents, hope that all the worst case scenarios that they have lived a million times in their heads might not come to pass. A hope that the mysteries that are locked behind thier child's eyes might one day be shared and understood.

Hope. If I stand for nothing else in this world that is enough. If that is to be my legacy, I can think of nothing else I would rather have it be.

Troy

A search for truth

I have always found it fascinating how so many truths that we hold so dear are so heavily influenced on our points of view. We tend to only look at the world through one pair of eyes, and so rarely do we take a step back and take a wider view, a view that just might encompass someone else's point of view. Well my goal is to try that very thing, to take all the different colors and send them back through the prism in the hope that the white light on the other side will contain truth, not just my truth or just your truth, but a little bit of all our truths.

So the experiment begins, anyone who would like to join is more than welcome, I want to see the world in as many colors as I can, there are however two rules. Rule #1 there are no wrong opinions, for they are your opinions, they are your truth, write what you believe in, not what you think others want to hear. Rule #2 No judging. This is a place where all opinions are welcome, you might not agree with them, but read them anyway. Take a moment to see the world through that lens for a few minutes. It might change your view point, and if so then you are better off then you were before you read it. It might reinforce your view point, and if so then once again you are better off than you were before you read it. You cant lose if you are willing to try. So adventure is out there, and here we go...