The title above is  from an old Indian saying which is quite profound, and  well worth taking the time to consider carefully. Think about it. Everything we do today affects what will happen tomorrow. We need to recognize this now more than at any time in a great many years. Failure to do so guarantees that we will continue on this headlong rush to  unrest, hatred and violence which we seem determined to meet head on.

Are we so blind and uncaring that we cannot see this ? Or have we become so self involved that we don't see that  we are destroying the future of our children. And why ? Because we have allowed fear to control our lives  and those who would encourage that mindset are free to do as they will. When fear determines how we live we are not living at all. 

Hatred breeds hatred.  And feeds on the carcasses of those it destroys. How can we call ourselves civilized human beings when we can turn away as children are dying, either from warfare or lack of the necessities of life,  because we refuse to reach out to those with whom we differ, no matter how vast the differences may be.  Why is it so impossible to recognize that only through kindness and  communication will it be even remotely possible that we can come to understand one another. Only when dialogue replaces armaments as a means of fighting the virus of hate will there be any chance at all of curing the illness afflicting this planet in ever widening circles as our fear devours us all.

That fear and misunderstanding has now reached epic proportions. So much so that we now harbour hatred against even those among our own people who differ with us either politically, morally, or otherwise. The division among us now enables the agendas of those who see power as the ultimate aphrodisiac.

FDR had it exactly right when in another time when the world was at war he declared.. " We have nothing to fear ... but fear itself. " 

How much more sane and sensible it would be if we only treated others as we would wish to be treated ourselves.  Certainly there is evil in this world and it must be dealt with but to use the same methods which have allowed that evil to prosper is to invite carnage beyond imagining. Fellowship and community where a helping hand is extended where and when needed  is the very best antidote to neuter the influence evil breeds upon. Communication  is the means to defeat misunderstanding and anger if only we are wise enough to recognize it. And this is true not only in dealing with declared enemies, it  also is the solution among our own people.

This world is now very much different than it was in FDR's day.  The information highway is instantaneous, air flight has now made oceans only a minor inconvenience for those of us on this continent who enjoy a standard of living  which has no peer. Is it any wonder that we are mistrusted and  reviled  because we are so complacent and  ignore the plight of those  who see their children dying from hunger or disease when the remedies are no further away than a helping hand from those infinitely more fortunate ? In turning our backs on those in need we arm our enemies with the most deadly weapons of all.  Envy and Hatred.

And before you react by thinking ,' you are speaking of expending vast amounts of money we need here at home', consider the monies we spend on killing machines and  armaments and the lives of our young sacrificed engaging in the methods of retribution and revenge now the standard response to any threat posed. Do you truly believe in your heart of hearts that this is the answer? Has it worked ? Have our enemies become fewer? Do we have the right to dictate to others when we have ignored their misery and hardships for decades ? Do we have the right to tell them what they should believe in or what creed they should follow ? Would we accept that kind of interference in our way of life ?... Of course we would not. Nor should they.

Dwight David Eisenhower, President of the United States, General of the Army,  wrote in 1953: " Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron." 

I truly believe that respect and tolerance combined with genuine caring for one's fellow man will go a great deal further in fostering peace and harmony both at home and abroad than any of the inflammatory rhetoric, munitions, or superior fighting force ever could. When are we going to realize this and give it a try ? Only once we have reached the point of no return and it is too late for all of us ? The seeds we are sowing today will produce only noxious weeds. No ' flowers' can possibly result from our actions and reactions. We should know better.  Before it is too late remember, we will not  be alone in reaping that harvest. It is the legacy we bequeath to our beloved children and grandchildren.

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