Sunday, October 31, 2004

BELIEVE

It is easy to feel lost in the storm of political rhetoric, especially in the last days of a political season as charged as this one. It is easy, all too easy, to feel irrelevant in the face of Osama bin Laden's coming out as the world's pre-eminent supervillain, in the wake of 380 tons of deadly explosives that simply vanished, in the din of multi-million dollar ad campaigns and talking points e-mailed to millions.

Don't you believe it.

I have three subscribers: two more-or-less local friends, and someone I have never met, and never known until now. She wrote to me recently. I asked for and received permission to post parts of her letter.
I am an independent Conservative who has not once seriously considered voting for Kerry. My eldest Son, a college student in Texas, recently cast his first vote ever - for Kerry. That wasn't enough to persuade me to vote for Kerry. Moore's movie had no impact on my vote, either.

...

I desperately want that "hope" realized for AMERICA. Perhaps you're right and this JFK may be the one to do this. I don't know...all I know is that Bush43 is the opposite of everything bright and beautiful that AMERICA once stood for and could be in the future.

...

I am willing to give Kerry a try.
I include these excerpts, not out of some self-congratulatory feeling of triumph, but because recently I had been feeling futile. This blog seemed like a way to feel like I was doing something without actually making a real difference. In showing me how I had touched her, helped her see hope, she gave me that gift in turn.

Never believe -- never believe -- that you cannot make a difference, reach another heart, change another mind, touch another soul. This is the fundamental gift of vision and passion and creation that is the greatest part of the human experience, the light shining in us all. That is what our enemies want to extinguish. This is not about Bush, or Cheney, or Rumsfeld, or even Ashcroft or Rove. They are only symptoms of a greater disease -- fear of our ability to connect to each other and exalt one another. If we ever truly achieve that glorious potential, those who need to have power over others to feel important fear they will have nothing. Ironically, that is the true tragedy, because if they open themselves to that same glory they can leave their fears behind with the rest of us.

This is the time. Our moment has arrived. John Kerry is merely one of many representatives. He is a starting point. If he fails, another will take his place, and another, on and on, until we can finally rise above our fears and grievances and differences.

For now, this is a holding battle, a fight to stop those who would take us backwards into ignorance and terror. But know this forever: all you have to do is reach out and persevere. Try. Use your gifts -- writing, speaking, art, song, organization, technology, it doesn't matter. Connect to your allies. Connect to the undecided. Connect to those who disagree with you. Never give up. Never surrender. And you will make a difference.

Believe.

(/) Roland X
Hope is a phoenix

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