Perplexed

Reflection of the good old days of college

In the heat of summer where the world is ablaze I find myself as perplexed as anyone can be. The rhetoric spewed by politicians as of late have offered little solace for all of humanity. So little time to waste and not a moment too soon our prayers still go unanswered, the lunacy continues. I know I am getting older with each passing day. But, still I so often wonder did my life really matter and what difference did I make.

 

The people I've met, the places I've seen and all those lives I've touched are constant reminders of a life well spent. Yet, I keep thinking of all those what could have been. The squandered moments where I thought time didn't matter. The selfish desires where some were held at bay. For me a lifetime of achievement there was always a price to pay.

 

Now that I am old and gray the weathered look of time greets me each day. Still I am bound to keep hope alive. For just maybe in the time I have left a dawn of a new day where the debt will finally be paid I will be able to rest easy and just fade away. But, every now and then comes a moment so rare. The tranquility of my existence now moves me to tears. I have come to the realization that my life really does matter. The dreams I once had are now hope for the future. I have come to realize that the human existence does have a purpose. I am reminded of old Professor Franklin. It was back in college I remember Professor Franklin standing tall in that lecture hall. A billowing booming voice could waken even the sleepiest of us sitting in those God forsaken wooden chairs. This was back when Universities were so barren of all the technologies and convinces of our modern world.

 

But, on a particular day in late fall the topic of his lecture was "Humanity, Humility, Benevolence, and Compassion In An Otherwise Uncompassionate World." Vietnam was taking it's toll on young men who couldn't maintain their student deferments. Everywhere discontent among radical ideas permeated on almost every college campus. Still I remember listening with feverish intensity to Professor Franklin's every word. What he said still resonates today. He said that everyone no matter their status in life, rich or poor, black or white, Catholic or Protestant everyone has at some point in their lives has something so important, so relevant, or so profound to say or write. But, it is up to the rest of us to listen, to hear, or to see; for they just might say or write something so profound and so important that maybe the course of humanity would actually become more humane, more compassionate, and more benevolent toward their fellow man. Everyone has a story to tell.

 

Now, a half century later the world that I once knew is no more. It is as though the world has forgotten, failed to recognize, and totally ignored the wisdom of what Professor Franklin lectured about those 50 years ago. When he spoke of Humanity, Humility, Compassion and Benevolence in an otherwise uncompassionate world little did he or I realize that today the alarming escalating rate of the number of instances where man has shown his inhumanity, his un compassion, and his extreme lack of benevolence toward man and nature has rendered practically every nation so impoverished that their future stability is in grave jeopardy.  There has always been those who choose to ignore the teaching of that particular day for they are keeping alive the plight of humanity knocking right on deaths door.

 

Now I find I am in the twilight of my life. I am still moved into action by the caliber of distress wanting a better life for all those who follow. With a stroke of a pen and plenty of ink to spare put meaning to words the effects still will matter. Some are content though with the way things are. Yet, I keep hearing the cries of the impoverished multitudes whose voices are rarely ever heard. The deaf ears of the power elite where silence is golden, is music to their ears.

 

In an age of so much inequality where too many are trapped wallowing in quiet desperation their dreams are shattered, their hopes long gone. They have all withered and died on the vine of lost opportunity. I know for a fact we have arrived at a pivotal time. So much at stake and so little time to mend the wounds of inequality, woe and despair. Never before has there been a better opportunity to right the wrongs and set a course straight and narrow through troubled waters of so much peril. We had better act fast for time does not wait. In a blink of an eye could seal our fate. But, we always must remember what was taught that one day in that old lecture hall.