Truth
October 12, the day celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States – the day that Columbus arrived in what would eventually become the United States – evokes passionate emotions. When I was a young man, with all due respect to my teachers, the story which was told about the history of this land was presented as “the truth”. It was not until I was at the University of Maryland studying philosophy that I was formally challenged to accept that there were many versions of every story. As a child I knew, of course, that adults argued about politics, religions and even about whose family history was accurate. Aunt V was either a brave feminist or a loose woman. The political opponents were self-serving, unpatriotic, and perhaps even liars. God was angry, punishing and exclusively present in one brand of church or compassionate and present in all places. I was told that the stories I was taught in class were the genuine history of a land and people whose blood, sweat, and tears fertilized the very soil upon which we proudly stood.
Today we hear stories of fake news, liars, and godliness. Given the plethora of sources of the distribution of words we can hear or experience many versions of “The truth” within a single hour or day. We can also experience strong emotional reactions to various stories. It can seem extremely important that our version of a particular story be accepted as the truth. We can feel as if only our version acknowledges the achievements or the pain experience by our ancestors and passed to us.
On this Columbus Day I have heard many stories about the treatment of Native Americans by early arrivals to this country, of the slavery of African Americans, o indigenous people of Africa and their role in the slave trade, of the tawdry, courageous, proud, criminal history of the early immigrants to this country, and the saintliness or the violent history of Native Americans. These were the stories I heard prior to 8:00 a.m. on October 12, 2020.
I am, once again challenged to listen with compassion – an open mind and heart . What do I need to hear? Do I need to hear that there are victims and perpetrators? Do I need to hear that there are saints and sinner? Do I need to hear that the pain of one can easily become a sword to inflict pain on another? Do I need to hear that my vested interest in my version of a particular story validates my worth or serves as a shield to hide my fear that I and my ancestors were mere objects or the cruel masters treating others as objects?
William Shakespeare’s words as spoken by Jaques in As You Like it once again come to mind: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances;” Yet the pain and the fear are real.
Perhaps we need to listen with our hearts and open eyes to see how we fail to take care of each other; how we see criminal behavior and not pain; how we point fingers and fail to problem solve; how we become defensive and call upon the gods of potential lawsuits or righteousness; how we become so fearful of the wax of our wings melting that we, unlike Icarus, avoid the light and fire of the sun all together. Perhaps we need to question our investment in “the truth” and embrace the sister and the brother who hide from our self-righteousness.
As we approach local, state and national elections we need to honor the freedom to vote knowing the limitations of the stories we have been told, but determined to be active, compassionate, responsible citizens inviting a courageous, humble, attempt to create a new story.
Written October 12, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
October 12, the day celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States – the day that Columbus arrived in what would eventually become the United States – evokes passionate emotions. When I was a young man, with all due respect to my teachers, the story which was told about the history of this land was presented as “the truth”. It was not until I was at the University of Maryland studying philosophy that I was formally challenged to accept that there were many versions of every story. As a child I knew, of course, that adults argued about politics, religions and even about whose family history was accurate. Aunt V was either a brave feminist or a loose woman. The political opponents were self-serving, unpatriotic, and perhaps even liars. God was angry, punishing and exclusively present in one brand of church or compassionate and present in all places. I was told that the stories I was taught in class were the genuine history of a land and people whose blood, sweat, and tears fertilized the very soil upon which we proudly stood.
Today we hear stories of fake news, liars, and godliness. Given the plethora of sources of the distribution of words we can hear or experience many versions of “The truth” within a single hour or day. We can also experience strong emotional reactions to various stories. It can seem extremely important that our version of a particular story be accepted as the truth. We can feel as if only our version acknowledges the achievements or the pain experience by our ancestors and passed to us.
On this Columbus Day I have heard many stories about the treatment of Native Americans by early arrivals to this country, of the slavery of African Americans, o indigenous people of Africa and their role in the slave trade, of the tawdry, courageous, proud, criminal history of the early immigrants to this country, and the saintliness or the violent history of Native Americans. These were the stories I heard prior to 8:00 a.m. on October 12, 2020.
I am, once again challenged to listen with compassion – an open mind and heart . What do I need to hear? Do I need to hear that there are victims and perpetrators? Do I need to hear that there are saints and sinner? Do I need to hear that the pain of one can easily become a sword to inflict pain on another? Do I need to hear that my vested interest in my version of a particular story validates my worth or serves as a shield to hide my fear that I and my ancestors were mere objects or the cruel masters treating others as objects?
William Shakespeare’s words as spoken by Jaques in As You Like it once again come to mind: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances;” Yet the pain and the fear are real.
Perhaps we need to listen with our hearts and open eyes to see how we fail to take care of each other; how we see criminal behavior and not pain; how we point fingers and fail to problem solve; how we become defensive and call upon the gods of potential lawsuits or righteousness; how we become so fearful of the wax of our wings melting that we, unlike Icarus, avoid the light and fire of the sun all together. Perhaps we need to question our investment in “the truth” and embrace the sister and the brother who hide from our self-righteousness.
As we approach local, state and national elections we need to honor the freedom to vote knowing the limitations of the stories we have been told, but determined to be active, compassionate, responsible citizens inviting a courageous, humble, attempt to create a new story.
Written October 12, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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