From where I’m standing.

From where I’m standing, the way forward may not be clearly outlined, but I know I must lift one foot in front of the other and make my way. From where I’m standing, there can be no turning back. From where I’m standing, I can see for miles in every direction and I know that it is only possible to move forward, not backwards-and there is no sitting down.

From where I’m standing, the silence is deafening. There are few around me, standing up for what is “right” or for what is true. The Truth that all beings, have the right, to live without fear, without pain, without hunger.  All beings everywhere-all children especially, have the right to play and to be innocent and safe in their youth. They could never have committed anything that could possibly warrant having their limbs blown off deliberately, to be starved to death-to live the horror of seeing their parents killed in front of their eyes-their homes destroyed-their Universe obliterated. 

From where I am standing, I do not understand the silence-the lack of response-the lack of comment. How is it possible to see these things, and not respond? Has your heart grown so numb that you cannot feel? How can you not cry out in anguish at the cruelty of it all. How can you excuse this with your silence?

From where I’m standing, there can be no excuse to excuse this depravity.

After watching so many programs, documentaries and movies about the Holocaust-listening to the stories of the horrendous things inflicted upon fellow and female humans, and saying “Never Again” and “Never Forget”, from where I’m standing, I see that a lot of people have short term-convenient memories that only include a certain type of victim.

I am standing here screaming, at the top of my lungs, I am stomping my feet and banging on trash can lids!!!!!! WHAT WILL IT TAKE?  ARE YOU AWAKE AT ALL???WHERE HAS YOUR HUMANITY RUN OFF TO?????

I do not understand, and perhaps I never can, for that would mean there could ever be a good enough reason to sit silently by and say “not my problem”. I do not now, nor will I ever have a reason enough to look away.

So, from where I’m standing, the World, my World as I’ve known it, no longer exists. My belief in the good of my country and the “liberty and justice for all” is shown to be a sham. For “justice for all” must mean just that, and it does not obviously-when this government can provide the very instruments of death in the Genocide in Gaza, there is no justice there for the citizens of Gaza-no one is free there-not the 40,000 people who have been killed or the millions still living in fear for their lives.

From where I’m standing, all the platitudes and pretense of concern fall way short of genuine, selfless compassion. And with this knowledge, I know that nothing will ever be the same. My view of the world, from where I’m standing, has been altered-the Vista before me illuminated now by the darkness of men’s souls-darkened by cruelty and greed. Always present, but now exposed like the gaping wound that it is and can no longer be denied.

Turning away does not destroy it, only bringing it into the light will, and so from where I’m standing, I am burning a fiery Torch and holding it high to light the way.

and I ask…Where are you standing today?

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