I don’t want to get involved ~ said the witness to the victim, said the German to the Jew, said the UN to the Tutsi, said the coward…
I find this to be one of my least favorite statements, responding, replying, standing up, voting, sitting in, praying, dancing, teaching, learning, giving and receiving, loving and hating, being loved and despised. Being. Doing. Feeling this is the “matter” of life, this is being involved , involved with life is being involved with people.
Sometimes this translates into bearing witness to an accident and giving a fair, honest and impartial account, what it really means is that possibly hours of your time will be wasted as you plod your way through some bureaucratic statement given in triplicate. It means that precious time that you had potentially allotted to some other enterprise is being lost to you for absolutely no personal gain or benefit NONE, except this…. You got involved, you participated in being part of a society, of your community, you gave of yourself for the benefit of the greater good. With the belief somewhere inside you that the Great of which you are a part will do the same for you. That if you are broken down, someone will get involved long enough to help you, if you are attacked someone will set aside whatever they are doing and come to you aid, if you cry foul a community will hear you. From the highest part of your mind to the instincts that sit low in the cradle of your stomach you know that in order for this to work we all have to get involved, be involved, participate.
If Humanity, society, our community, our family – is a tapestry, & the base cloth is shared values, by being involved we keep this foundation fabric strong we continue to weave the rich patterns of our lives upon this underpinning . It means that we have this shared amorphous material in which we can wrap ourselves against cold or pain or grief, - in hard times humanity has empathy for our plight. There is a man in my community that lost his wife in child birth, I think of him every day and when he comes into my mind I wish for him a moment of peace , I know that there are hundreds of other people in this community who don’t know & have never met this man, but that they to think of him and as he is thought of by strangers he is cradled for a moment in the love of mankind.
That we can string it high and set sail knowing that as a people who believe in the same very basic truths we have the support of each other person ~ where ever we might be. That these basic tenants we agree upon are the very things that make us human – to shun cruelty, abuse, and violence, and to embrace kindness, fairness and love does not require us to sign an agreement or belong to the same religion. It is quite simply the things that make us human. And in our shared humanity I will stand up to the abuser and be the voice for the child and in so doing I know that all of you are standing next to me shoulder to shoulder. That when next you speak out against a cruelty they you will do so with the courage that there are battalions of people who are behind you, then when anyone of us stands up for one of shared values we will not fee l alone but feel empowered that today is my day to be the voice for us all, but should I flounder in the face on adversity another of the number will step forward and take the baton.
This is the collective, this is being involved, this is being a person and this really is living
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