What Are We Doing?

There is a famous song that begins with the words, “Do you see what I see?” that draws our attention to a singular event that was taking place in a little town in the Middle East. The outcome of this singular event meant different things to different people.  Whether you were Roman, Greek or Jewish it meant different things.  Whether you lived nearby or came from afar, it meant different things. A moment like this could be considered an inflection point, something that changes the direction of what came before and what comes after it.  When we consider that the way we count years, here, has some foundation around this moment (B.C. or A.D), we should not forget this point was made over the course of 33 years.

History hinges on who holds the pen.  The one who writes, tells, narrates or broadcasts the events paint a picture.  And a picture is said to say a thousand words. What is shared is not always what happened. Investigators have to find as many eye witnesses to an event to hopefully be able to make a conclusion about the event.  Investigators are people.  Witnesses are people.  Viewers are people.  Listeners are people. People do not always see things the same way.

Personal experience, family background, education, money, health, gender, race, religion, which side of the tracks, town, or county you come from all impact people.  People make history more than we write or tell of it.  People are the real historical markers of time. 

 So, what direction will history say we went as a result of the point in time that we are living in? 

When you look around, what do you see?  

We see what we want to see.  We see what used to be.  We see what could be.  We see what is. In an ideal scenario all of these perspectives would be the same.  The truth is that they are not.  Our intellect can’t make them all the same.  Our emotions can’t make them all the same.  Our belief system can’t make them all the same.  

The struggle to identify what is true and what is right, seem as though they should be the same.  The approach taken usually has different outcomes for different groups.  People who live in our society, today, will determine what this inflection point will be.  Each person has to decide how they will participate in making this be a point of improvement or demolition. 

The same book that told us about a star, tells us that we the people will decide where we end up.  What are we doing?