First of all, hi. I want to get back into writing on this here blog more often, and try to “be the light.” You know, as a real, living person who writes/types with her hands and conjures stories from her own memory and imagination.
Ok, so what would I un-invent, if I could? I can think of a few things right off the bat, like, I don’t know, the internet? Or more specifically, smart phones… social media… but there ARE good things that have come from that, so I don’t want to totally wipe it. Especially since I’m sitting here writing words that I intend to publish on the internet.
How about we un-invent weapons? I know, I know, anything can be a weapon if you intend it to be one. But how about we un-invent anything that was designed specifically for killing or maiming other human beings, or causing immense harm to civilization? I’m talking about guns, obviously, but also grenades, bombs, chemical weapons, etc.
I mean, isn’t it insane that there are still places on this planet where people cannot safely walk because there are landmines? Or that people and the environment are still suffering the effects of Agent Orange, over 50 years later? And don’t get me started on the insanity in this here US of A, where tens of thousands of people are hurt or killed PER YEAR by firearms. It’s so ubiquitous that you barely even flinch when you see or read a news story about a mass shooting, or a cop shooting a civilian, or gang members shooting each other. It’s just another day.
So yeah, there we go. I would un-invent weapons of war. Beat the swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. Turn the guns into frisbee-throwers and the bombs into… I don’t know what. Just make them go away.
In conclusion, one of my favorite Indigo Girls Songs:
… Remember everything I told you
Keep it in your heart like a stone
And when the winds have blown things round and back again
What was once your pain will be your home
… All around the table the white haired men have gathered
Spilling their sons’ blood like table wine
Remember everything I told you
Everything in its own time
… The music whispers you in urgency
Hold fast to that languageless connection
A thread of known that was unknown and unseen seen
Dangling from inside the fifth direction
… Boys around the table mapping out their strategies
Kings of mountains one day dust
A lesson learned, a loving God, and things in their own time
In nothing more do I trust
… But we own nothing, nothing is ours
Not even love so fierce it burns like baby stars
But this poverty is our greatest gift
The weightlessness of us as things around begin to shift
… Remember everything I told you
Keep it in your heart like a stone
And when the winds have blown things round and back again
What was once your pain will be your home
… Everything in its own time
Everything in its own time
Uncommon Heather 