The Alarm! Who is going to sound the alarm? Or the more appropriate question may be – who is going to hear it and will we have the purity of heart and clarity of mind to respond to it?
Whether it is a clarion call or the church bell, the factory whistle or the call to prayer, the cook clanging the dinner bell or the blanket being lifted over the fire’s smoke, the call of the shofar in the desert or a soldier’s bugle, to name a few – these are all wake-up calls to a simple message which implores to whomever can hear it to “please listen.” The message has already been delivered, but possibly not heard, not understood or believed that the message was meant for all of us.
Is it possible we may need another messenger or maybe more than one messenger that we can all believe and have faith in?
I remember my father telling me stories about men he knew and toiled with: ”Jon is one of the smartest men I know,” he would say, “but until he can hear and be open to other’s opinions, he will not live up to his potential.”
You see Jon was a prisoner to his own failure of not being open to other’s opinions or views. He was reluctant to listen for it was so much easier than dealing with the responsibility of choosing between competing views. It seems that we may be in a collective slumber of denial – not wanting to admit to or care to take responsibility for our own failings. This collective slumber is as much about our failings as it about the failings of the perpetrator or shall we call him for what he is? Which label shall we use for him – there are so many. But, let’s not fall into that trap for he is who he is and what he is.
But never mind our own personal failings. Will we take responsibility for our collective failure to act to save our precious nation from the internal malfeasance and tyrannical behavior that is taking place? Let us not forget the sacrifices of our sons and daughters who have shed their blood to allow us all to sleep soundly.
I am sending this message as an open letter and a clarion call to four men of conscience who have served our great country well and who have guided us through thick and thin. I believe we can all agree that their decisions – especially the more difficult ones were never made for self-serving reasons. Some men may stumble on occasion and at other times they may skate easily through life but whether skating or stumbling. I would venture to say that most of their decisions were made from the purity of heart and clarity of mind.
To the honorable Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, this message is clear so please, please heed the call for “The Times They Are a-Changin’.” Donald Trump represents a clear and present danger to our democracy. We need you now as a collective body to come together and state in unambiguous terms that this clear and present danger to our great country affects us all – not only here at home but throughout the world. We need you now to heed the call and sound the alarm!
Ben Oliva
Mineola
