Like it or not, we all are linked to our past. Our lives when viewed, in the perspective of our ancestors and those who come after us, our successors, will always reflect our willingness to engage in behavior which in the broader scope of time, will reflect our individual decisions.
There really is no such thing as a nation, just as there really is no such thing as a corporation. It always boils down to an individual’s choice. That is why our Constitution and Bill of Rights focus on the individual in such minute detail.
In a world of sameness, never forget that you matter, or ever think that your choice will affect no one but you, because that is the lie that kills everything.
So on this Memorial Day we call to mind the people who made choices that helped to form the world in which we live. If you do not like the way things are today, maybe consider how you would like it to be? Look to the past and make choices rooted in those old lessons, based on what you would like the world to be, in a future that tirelessly rushes up to greet you.
It matters. So do you. Anyone who makes you less than that is wrong. Choose to be right, and your life will have mattered.
A somber yet beautiful time capsule is right here. Sent along by Skip Saenger.
Yesterday I got to stand stage side with my son Josh, as the Shoemaker Brothers performed here in Ventura at Jonathan’s, a local restaurant and music nightspot. I heard Sam sing a piece done as a spinoff of America The Beautiful. They saved it for the end of the last set, which took place as part of a birthday party celebration for local businessman JR Ford.
The song was so powerful, that it cut through the revelry, and one by one, I could see people sit up and take notice. The song really is a call to arms and choice, and one of the more powerful messages that I have ever heard.
Earlier in the week Sam and I had engaged in a really great conversation about how our personal experiences and past are the best source for our creations. Standing in the soft fading light, which fell through a skylight above the band, on a Memorial Day weekend, I realized just how much we need to be reminded, that America is you, and I, and this place needs us.
You can find the Shoemaker Brother’s music here and preview America. I bought it. America. That is my choice. I’m in. Are you?
