If you hear the song I sing
You will understand, listen!
You hold the key to love and fear all in your trembling hand.
Just one key unlocks them both
It’s there at your command.
Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another Right Now.
-Chester Powers
I was raised in the sixties and the sixties still live within me. In these days of political, social and racial strife I am reeling from the disappointment that is the world of today. I entered adulthood believing we were on the verge of living in a world dictated by the sentiments that filled the songs that permeated my adolescence– Ride on the Peace Train; Ooh-oo Child, things are gonna get easier, Ooh-oo child things’ll get brighter; Imagine all the people sharing all the world.
We have seen so many technological advancements and so much social deterioration- simultaneously bringing the world closer together, yet farther apart. Society, intellect and Mother Earth are all endangered. I find it difficult to maintain optimism. When I travel internationally I watch the news about the United States of America from outside perspectives and things look even more disturbing – the cold detached reality for the entire world to see.
I love America; at least I want to love America as a mother loves her wayward child. She experiences tests of her patience and the occasional exasperation. Sometimes resignation is the best she can muster. But hope for a brighter future springs eternally.
I have many like-minded friends and from this pool of characters I fashion a conscious world that reflects my values and the values of all the other hippies out there regardless of age. Part of this pool consists of Storytellers who magically create worlds that reflect that reality in contrast to the one we hear on the news each evening. In this community I see the potential for that world I believed in.
A better world is coming and I bet Story will be one means of transportation – a Lift to a brighter destination.
Come on people now, share the stories you hold in your trembling hand, everybody come together in understanding. Right now.
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