Serene Gratitude— At West End Gallery
On the day I was born,
Said my father, said he
I’ve an elegant legacy waiting for ye.
Tis a rhyme for your lips
And a song for your heart
To sing it whenever the world falls apart. Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hill and stream
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow the fellow who follows a dream.
—Yip Harburg, Look to the Rainbow from Finian’s Rainbow
I have a lot of faith in the ability of younger generations to see the horror show taking place in this country with clear eyes. That they will recognize the outright lies, the cruelty, the bullying, the hypocrisy, the corruption, and the stupidity that washes over us like a tidal wave every day.
But I have begun to question that belief in recent days.
I now finding myself worrying about what will come from the constant exposure to behaviors from our leaders that were once shameful and even disqualifying but have now become the accepted norm.
What is the legacy being created here? What kind of future world will it be when it becomes totally accepted to outright lie or cheat? Or when selfishness is viewed as strength and compassion as weakness? When intelligence and science is derided while ignorance and unfounded belief is held in the highest esteem? When accountability and responsibility is replaced with buck-passing and scapegoating? When generosity and true charity is set aside in favor of piggish greed?
How will a society whose citizens have been raised with these shameful behaviors function?
From where I sit, it seems like it would be a hellish landscape, ugly and violent. A dystopian nightmare of cruel and crude people.
Maybe I am dead wrong or overstating the case here. Maybe.
But how can we expect any different when every word and deed they now witness from those in power lacks traditional virtues of any kind and is considered acceptable?
I know there are counterarguments here. For example, there are still many empathetic, caring folks whose parental influence will outweigh societal pressures. And maybe that will hold off us falling completely into the abyss for a time. But if we can’t reign this in soon and reestablish what we see as out of the norm and unacceptable, I fear it will eventually overtake us.
I can’t believe that is the legacy we want to leave for our future generations.
I wish I had answers instead of questions. Perhaps it’s not for me to answer. Perhaps the best we can do is to try to serve in our own small way as examples of kindness and compassion.
Maybe by doing that we can serve as rainbows which others will follow. That would be a good start.
Here’s the song from which the lyrics at the top were taken. It’s Follow the Rainbow from the musical Finian’s Rainbow. The lyrics were written by Yip Harburg who also wrote the lyrics for many great songs– Over the Rainbow and all the other songs from The Wizard of Oz, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, April in Paris, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, and It’s Only a Paper Moon. There are a number of versions of this song out there, including one by Petula Clark from the film, but I prefer this version from the always great Dinah Washington.
Redtree Times 