Long Night of the Soul

Jim Croce spoke of time in a bottle. I speak of dreams and wishes, and of those things seen and felt by us all. We often find that our time has passed so quickly, and wish we could store it somewhere, returning to it when we sense its passing. Most often, we pine for the loss of love, or at least the waning of its intensity. We get used to each other and let that love, that passion, that promise of fulfillment, fade. So we find alternatives and allow life to pass by while standing on the platform waiting to get on that train into the future where we have so little left. Yet there is so much more, and we only need to revive our memories in our hearts and minds. If we choose conflict over peace it is undoubtedly because we have been raised to do so. Men have always found reasons to fight, often coming from a leader who wants to conquer and the advisors who declare the enemies and the reasons we must destroy them. But it is a rare occasion that we must really do so. It is for the powerful we act; for them we serve, even though their promises are most always broken. The depth of our willingness to come to their aid seems ancient within our souls. I believe it can be otherwise, and that bringing it to light might help us to focus more upon those beliefs we find as part of our spiritual side, like faith in a power greater than ourselves. Churches, temples, and mosques continue to fill on Saturdays and Sundays. We choose people to speak for us, yet we have become the silenced. We seem to have accepted a culture of people who race for the positions of responsibility, but once the reins are in their hands, they steer in directions chosen only by them and for them. We, the People, are usually left behind to clean up the droppings of their mount as they ride off into the sunset. We must not be silenced by what we see, and how we are treated. That is not the nature of any free people—lest we forget. —Gary Wenkle Smith