How We Lead Ourselves through Dallas Matters
How do I, how do we, as individuals, groups, and a country find our way through the latest in a series of race related violent incidents? How do we lead ourselves to honor those who sacrificed their lives? There is no intrinsic meaning to their sacrifices. The only meaning is the one we lead ourselves to live. And that meaning, must result in a more evolved way of being. Otherwise these men’s lives are sacrificed are in vain.
We say this violence is unspeakable. But because it happens, we must speak of it, and sadly we have found ourselves speaking of it on too many occasions.
Alton Sterling’s son Cameron speaks about how we can lead ourselves. Will we listen and act on what he says? Will we, through our actions, give meaning to his father’s life, and death?
The Wisdom of Others Can Guide Us
I can speak only for the “I” in this question of how we lead ourselves. I am guided by questions, the wisdom of others, and a belief in certain principles for living this one life I’ve been granted.
The first piece of wisdom comes from Maya Angelou. I found it confusing and disturbing the first time I read it, and continue to be challenged by what it means about me and humanity.
“We are all human; therefore, nothing human can be alien to us.”
Am I capable of acting in accordance with the full range of human behaviors, of doing what the two police officers did? Am I capable of being a sniper, like Micah Johnson? It’s hard to imagine. But I do know that I’m capable of hatred, and THAT is a very ugly thing. It is a painful thing. Both the hater and the hated suffer. We saw this in the streets of Dallas.
“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” Maya Angelou
And so I work at practicing compassion, and it IS work. I remind myself that everyone has, and is living, a story. Every story includes pain and suffering. I try to remember that we are all more alike than different. Sometimes, I remember to breathe instead of reacting.
Questions Can Guide Us
I am guided by a question U.S. attorney general, Loretta Lynch, asked us to reflect upon, following the Dallas shootings.
We must reflect on the kind of country we want to build and the kind of society we want to pass on to our children. We must reject the easy impulses of bitterness and rancor and embrace the difficult work of finding a path forward together.
I want to build a country that strives for the greatest potential of our collective human spirit. I want to build a country of people committed to evolve, because the evolution of human kind is our only way through and beyond this fear and hatred that leads to so much death, destruction and heartbreak. At the same time, I must recognize my potential to feel and act with hatred and be mindful that others will do so.
This dichotomy is embedded in the human condition. This is what we must lead ourselves through and beyond.
What kind of country do you want to build?
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