By Clay Hipp
On democracy, the inner voice, and the courage to begin again
“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
—Thomas Paine
We stand on the brink of a major moment in our democracy. No matter how it turns out, we, as a people, will have spoken (or perhaps remained silent). Each speaks its own “language.” When the votes are all in, we will have had something of a referendum about our future. In law, there is something called “public policy.” It is one way that we “speak” to each other about our common way of being and creating our shared destiny though our system of laws.
Either way, one side’s wants and desires will be fulfilled, or so we think (and perhaps believe). The other will experience a major psychological let down and perhaps give up hope. That would be a serious mistake. Either reality will reset the table. We must think of it as a great opportunity for deep contemplation, a time to truly wonder what can be done to bridge the serious chasm that has ruptured the union that was once an American dream. Each side’s own idea of what that dream might have looked like and where it went off the rails. It is important to wonder what we might be like should one side or the other prevail.
We have been mired in separate ideologies that come at our freedoms from different perspectives. George Washington, in his farewell address, when he chose not to run for a third term, extolled the idea of “unity at home” and warned of the rise of “factionalism” that could stand in its way.
Perhaps we must say to each other that though this may feel like the end, we could instead view it as a time of beginning again. One way to start that journey is perhaps not to view it as a “group” pursuit, but rather a search deep inside ourselves. Nietzsche, in his youth, said:
“No one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life.”
Each of us has, perhaps, been so mired in the reality of life inside our, so very real, rational “machine” existence that we cannot envision another way of being. Perhaps that vision might be changed if we choose “inside” for answers to our own hopes and dreams before we can discover pathways towards each other.
Herman Hesse was deeply moved and inspired in his own thinking by Nietzsche. Maria Popova, in her Marginalian writes:
“Some of Hesse’s most emboldening ideas about our human responsibility to ourselves and the world unfold in his ‘Letter to a Young German,’ written to a dispirited youth in 1919 and later included in his 1946 anthology If the War Goes On… (public library), published the year he received the Nobel Prize—the same stirring piece that gave us Hesse on hope, the difficult art of taking responsibility, and the wisdom of the inner voice.”
I have little choice but to share the lyrics to a song that I played for you on “Words That Sing.” It speaks, perhaps, of this very scheme of finding and listening to an “inner voice.”
Let’s read the lyrics together and find at least one way to that very special, individual wisdom given to each of us and spoken in our Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
These are our words of wisdom. Take them to heart. Ponder them deeply. Trust them. Live them.
Just another day in paradise
As you stumble to your bed
Give anything to silence
Those voices ringing in your head
You thought you could find happiness
Just over that green hill
You thought you would be satisfied
But you never will
Learn to be still
We are like sheep without a shepherd
We don't know how to be alone
So we wander 'round this desert
Wind up following the wrong gods home
But the flock cries out for another
And they keep answering that bell
One more starry-eyed Messiah
Meets a violent farewell
Learn to be still
Learn to be still
Now the flowers in your garden
They don't smell so sweet, so sweet
Maybe you've forgotten
Heaven lying at your feet
Ay, yeah yeah
There are so many contradictions
In all these messages we send
Keep asking
How do I get outta here?
Where do I fit in?
Though the world is torn and shaken
Even if your heart is breakin'
It's waiting for you to awaken
Someday you will
Learn to be still
Learn to be still
Just keep on runnin'
Keep on runnin'
Oh, oh yeah, mm, mm
Just keep on runnin
—Don Hendley, The Eagles
Let us do our sacred duty as citizens. After we have voted and received our collective answer, ponder it in your heart and choose your future.