Are you worried yet?

Cutler, Maine

“The enemy is fear.  We think it is hate, but it is fear.”  -  Ghandi

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”  -  Les Brown

     July 4^th weekend just passed, and I was sitting in a lobby editing photos from some small town parades in Maine.  One thing I was struck by is how there were many people participating in and attending the parades, but I had not seen one police car or policeman in either of towns I had been in.  As I worked, one of those 24 hour “news” channels droned in the background.

     A news item caught my attention.  “Authorities were on high alert over this July 4^th weekend, and although we didn’t have any major terrorist events, there was a scary incident in New York City” the announcer said.

     It seems a man had slipped past security and climbed atop the Brooklyn Bridge.  There he had committed an atrocious act – he took a “selfie.”  “Luckily for New Yorkers he wasn’t a terrorist” said the announcer, and introduced a policeman from New York.

     He agreed that they needed to tighten security because this “could have been a terrorist, and matters could have been much worse.”  The announcer wrapped up the bit by saying “Thank goodness it wasn’t more serious and hopefully there is swift justice for the man who “potentially could have jeopardized us all.”  A man takes a selfie and he is a threat to “national security.”  In the land of the free and the home of the “brave,” and in doing so he “could have jeopardized us all.”  Wow.

     There is a constant onslaught by those who would profit by having us live in fear.  It permeates the society.  It is hard enough for us to live in trust and faith with the fears that our own egos generate, let alone the constant assault from all quarters in our sound-bite society.

     Actions speak much louder than words, and I can tell you that in rural Maine people are not looking for a surrogate “father” to protect them from their fellow man.  There are hundreds of towns where resilient people believe in and depend upon their fellows.  We are well served to be keenly aware of the constant subconscious assault of fear we are exposed to and remember to not allow ourselves to be lured too far from reality.  

Today, may I be realistic.

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Make it a great day !!

David