Happy 4th of July

 

fireworksIndependence and freedom is something that we all crave to enjoy, experience and maintain yet for many people of the world, those thoughts seem to be a fleeting mirage. I have observed how people hold grudges for centuries and teach their children anger, hatred and negative thoughts because they refuse to turn the other cheek or even say, it is time to forgive and release.

We all have had situations in our personal lives that have spoken to that same scenario yet we still harbor anger, resentment and an unwillingness to forgive and let go of the past. We cannot expect the world to change if we individually refuse to change. Change happens one person at a time. It doesn’t matter if you resent someone or a group of people because of color, race religious beliefs or whether they have money or lack BUT what does matter is that we cause them NO HARM. We do not have to like each other but we definitely need to tolerate each other, respect each other’s point of view and treat each other with kindness and compassion.

Several years ago I wrote a poem about tolerance and it is entitled: It Really Doesn’t Matter What Color You Are

One of the verses goes like this:

It really doesn’t matter what color you are, for in the end, we are all a blend.
We mesh and merge; we mingle and purge. Like the waves of the ocean who
thrash and foam and crash and surge, yet always return to the one.
So listen when I tell you this, it really doesn’t matter at all. The color you
perceive is only a screen that in the end dissolves. For God in all His glory enlightens the human race to teach and show us that it is so.

Dear readers, no matter where you live in the world, think about those words and take to heart the message that real independence and freedom starts on the inside of each one of us and it can only be realize in the world when we individually embrace its true meaning.

Joan Marie