Wednesday, April 4, 2018

A Terrible Beauty Is Born

  I was lucky enough to attend the March For Our Lives Rally in Washington D.C. Lucky though, while accurate, doesn't even begin to describe it. I realize, now, that I am thrilled and honored and humbled by what I saw and heard. It's taken until now to be able to put it into words.
  The seventeen speakers were kids. Everyone of them touched by death. The survivors of the Parkland, Florida shootings organized the rally only a bit more than a month after the massacre. And to hear speaker after speaker talk about losing siblings, friends and teachers to guns brought tears to the millions of us listening. Beyond the emotion was strength and determination and courage almost beyond my belief. These young people, who, through no fault of their own, have seen the worst of human behavior, have decided to fix things. They are not alone. Pennsylvania Avenue was full of people, and there were rallies around the country and the world supporting action against gun violence. They are part of a movement that is part of a greater movement of progressive ideals that is not going anywhere but forward.
   On March 24, 2018, I saw the future. It is good.

Note: I titled this post after words the poet William Butler Yeats uses in 'Easter 1916'. That poem can be found on this blog with only a bit of clicking, if you want to understand the reference. 

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