I am sitting here, still numb, still trying to sort out my feelings. We have a thread with the subject of "A Mothers Opinion". It caused me to sit and think about this whole tragedy from the perspective of the roles that I play. Those being as citizen, Dad, Grandpa and Husband, Union/political/citizen activist, Warrior, and Bard. And as ponder these things, I find my thoughts wandering back to this old thread. I look around at the madness, and wonder "Why we sing"?

Citizens are taught here that this is the greatest country in the world. There is much to suggest that this is so, as long as one only looks at it through the prism of our good deeds and our successes. But, if we Yanks dare, we need to ask ourselves why a considerable part of this world has large factions that would gladly "strike at the head of the snake" in spite of what we do. Many citizens around the world love Americans, yet hate America. I am so proud to be an American, yet I want us to quit looking at the world through blinders. To paraphrase Paolo Freire, "To stand by and do nothing to end the suffering is to side with the torturers". I want these bastards rooted out, true enough……….yet I want us to look at our place in the world through different eyes…………..I want us to understand that we aren't the greatest, rather we are apart of the greatest…………the greatest work that God ever did. That is creating the entire human race. If it is wrong for our children to suffer, then it is wrong for all children to suffer. If it is wrong for Americans to suffer the fear of this attack, then it is wrong for all people to suffer that fear. If it is wrong for anyone to withhold medicine that could help our people, then it is wrong to withhold medicine that could help Iraqui's. I am proud to be an American, but I am acutely aware that we can no longer choose which good things we are going to do. I want us to move to the politics of a consistent set of base values, instead of the politics of convenience. And so I sing. I must sing the songs that raise awareness. I must sing songs that help us feel pride, justly so, in the great things we have accomplished. And then I must sing songs so that we know that we still have a long way to go before we reach our potential for goodness.

I am a Dad and husband. Each night when I come in, I go upstairs and look at my wee girl, and think of how much I love her, her sisters, and my grandson. I usually hum an old Irish Lullaby, "The Connemara Cradle Song". If Ciara is awake, she likes "John O'Dreams". MaryLou is usually asleep on the couch. I know that I want to protect and shelter them from all this. I want to sing to them of how beautiful the world is and shelter them from all that isn't. But I know that I cannot. That if I do this, then I will not be preparing them for what is so. I know that I must sing to them of what is sad, of what must be fixed, of what is tragic………………..I must sing of all these things, as well as of all that is beautiful. But most of all I must sing to them of hope, of what is possible, and of what THEY can do to make it so. It isn't fair that we can't just fix the problems with a song. But we can inspire our loved ones to make a difference.

In my work, I follow a path towards the goal of improving the workplace, government, and the community. I try to show that there is a problem. I then try to show how it applies to the person/community that I am dealing with. Once I establish this, then I work to show the solution and attempt to get that resolution. It seems to me that it is easy to see that the problem is that we have been attacked in a horrific manner, that it affects everyone of us in this country and the world at large. And that we must go after these individuals/organizations. But my training and experience tells me that there is another bridge beyond the fog. People just don't wake up one morning and decide to kill thousands and thousands of people in one fell swoop. We surely MUST punish those that sponsored this madness. But then we must turn our eyes to the horizon. We must go to those that believe that there was some justification for this madness and try to understand the conditions that spawned that belief. We must listen with our empathic receivers turned up full. We must apply values in a consistent way. We must realize that if it is wrong to kill civilians in New York City, then it is wrong to kill them in Harrah's Department store in London. If it is wrong to make war on non-combatants in the US, then it is wrong in the North of Ireland. If conditions are so bad that a people decide to be suicide bomb in Manhattan, then we must try to understand what causes this in Jerusalem. As a proud American, I want to sing the songs that raise these issues. I want to sing, so that my countrymen will understand that we have done great things, but that we have not come close to our potential greatness. All human beings have greatness in them. I have seen the hero's every day of my worklife. But they aren't sports figure, politicians, or generals. They are average people, struggling to live, and wanting to do what they can to make the world a better place. I must sing the songs that show them the way.

I am a warrior. I say this not in a melodramatic way. I do not say it with bravado, or to impress. It is simply a statement of fact. The part of me that is a warrior knows the dirty work that must be done. The real warrior hates the tasks that must be completed, but understands that s/he stands in that murky place between absolute good and absolute evil. There is a very thin line that separates us from being an agent of change for better, or the facilitator of great terror. We tend to look at things different from the idealist. I have always admired the peace advocates. The people that say that the anwer is simply "No More War". But I also know that will never be. The planet is not full of automatons that, when being bad, can simply be programmed. And besides, one persons "bad" is another persons "good". Despite my desperate desire to change the hearts and minds of those that think there is justification in this, the facts are that this is not possible. And so I must make a value judgement and pray to my God that I am choosing correctly. And then begin the hunt. The perpetrators and their sponsors must be hunted down. Their ability to repeat this horro must be destroyed beyond repair. That work will fall to those that are doing the work now. I must sing to the warriors and tell them I understand, but not many will. I must sing to others and tell them that these men and woman are doing the hard work that most could not do. I must sing to the warriors and tell them that they must never lose their souls, for if they do then they have simply become killing machines………….and eternally damned. And I must sing to them and tell them to choose who they follow with great care.

Bard. To write it, and look at the word stirs ancient feelings from the old part of the soul. Those of us who walk the path of Bard…………..and that includes many who are reading these words……….need to understand that our place in 2001 is no less relevant than it was several thousand years ago. In fact it is more relevant. Our spiritual ancestors were charged with reporting the news of the day. Depending on how they chose to do it, or for whom they served, they could create the news in a way that served their purpose. Today, the electronic media means that others do that. And that makes our work all the more important. We, as bards of the modern era, must be vigilant. We must watch with sensitive eyes and listen with sensitive ears. We must ever be aware of the importance of our work, even when no one is listening.

And so we sing. We sing to help us clear our minds. We sing because our place in the world demands that we do so. We sing because we love our families, our countries, our world……………..our children. I sing for the little 8 year old boy that wanted to go to prison because he would get three meals and clean sheets every day. I imagine him, grown to manhood, and saying to me "I told you so". And I know that I must sing to show a better way, and make this not so. I sing for Santa's kids so that they might know that their goodness is all that stands between us and the senseless brutality. And I sing for my own salvation. Enough.