I
hope you will always take the path of your heart. There seems to be a notion
the world is bad because it often seems we see only bad in the media. Evil,
violence and the outrageous gets headlines. I hope you see past this notion and
understand there is more good in our world than the evil so often represented
in mass media.
I
hope you will find your own truth and not allow the many false truths others
may try to impose upon you. This will demand you listen to your heart and
determine what is morally acceptable. Remember Howard Zinn’s history tells
stories conveniently dismissed by others unwilling to admit the flaws we Americans
have had throughout our history. Patriotism does not mean blind acceptance of
the actions of our government. We have the responsibility to be informed
citizens. We need to question the actions of those who buy the power of
government.
Mark
Twain is an author who questioned the things we do in the name of patriotism. I
hope someday you will read his WAR PRAYER.
I
hope you understand Rosa Parks and so many others fought long and hard to reach
equality. In my childhood the truth was blacks, Latinos and women were less
than equal to the white male establishment. Rosa Parks did much more than just
sit in a “white only” bus seat. Her entire life was one of following her heart
and objecting to oppression.
As
I watched your graduation I noticed the large number of Latino, Chicano and
Hispanic names of students graduating. Besides the family history of my family
you have a family history of Hildalgo. Keep in mind even today people of color
face incredible hardships because of racism’s discrimination. As Zinn points
out it was the Europeans who stole the lands of the indigenous peoples and the
people long residing in Spanish speaking areas of North America.
Cesar
Chavez and Corky Gonzales are only two voices for your brown brothers and
sisters of the past and present. Their truths are different from the ruling culture of this nation. And their
struggles continue today with the young people of your class of 2013.
I
hope you have come to realize heroes aren’t athletic men hitting game winners.
Heroes and heroines are people who put the needs and welfare of others before
themselves. They’re people who follow the moral path. The path of their heart.
I’ve met many heroes and heroines. Not one of them played professional sports.
How could we compare highly paid athletes to a woman like Kathy Kelly who has
spent her entire life as an adult working for peace and justice for all people?
How does a touchdown compare to her going to Iraq with medical supplies and
other life saving supplies in defiance of our government’s irrational sanctions
which were causing hundreds of thousands to die? Most of them children.
I
hope you won’t allow those in power to paralyze you in their attempts to make
us fear our world. Courage is not being without fear. It is recognizing fear
but still doing what is right and moral. Again, the path of your heart.
Governments promoting fear hope to create willingness to give up essential
freedoms and rights. Beware of giving up your freedom to be safe. Benjamin
Franklin once said doing so will result in having neither one.
I
hope you have come to realize the joy of the material things you have and will
get is only temporary joy. The joy of loving friends and family will bring you
true wealth. Falling in love with a soul mate will make you rich. This isn’t saying
we should allow the wealthy to continue the economic injustices they
perpetrate. Poor wages, sweat shops and enslaved children and adults making our
shoes and clothes are symptoms of the injustices imposed by the wealthy. The
gap between the wealthy and the working class and poor has reached record
levels because of criminal actions by Wall Street brokers and too big to fail
bankers. The chase for money and wealth is a disease causing much of the evil
we have in our world. War is one of the major symptoms.
I
don’t say you and all working people shouldn’t aspire to have security and a
living wage. But life is more than material bounty. Look at the mountains to
the west. They represent the grandeur of nature. And to live the path of our
hearts we must commune with nature. And to commune with nature means we have to
cherish our environment and stop the abuse of nature through pollution and
destruction. Abuse that will lead to the destruction of Earth. It’s abuse
fueled by short-sighted tycoons who refuse to change. Instead they deny there’s
a problem and continue the rape of the environment for resources that can’t be
sustained.
I
apologize that my generation failed the generation of your father and your
generation. We once said we would bring a change that would bring peace and justice.
Instead we sold out to materialism and apathy. We allowed corrupt politicians
and the rich who fund them to have power that goes unquestioned and without
significant challenges. But there remain many of my generation who have
idealism and live that path of the heart. They just need more help to challenge
those who have power and abuse it.
I
know this time of your life is to be celebrated, grandson. And believe me I do
celebrate your life! You are part of the hope we have in our world. Go forward
with joy and determination, my grandson. You are loved and admired. Work to be
strong. Learn from failures and make them opportunities to change. Question the
accepted knowledge and accept others with unconditional love in your heart.
Love
yourself so you can love others. Forgive yourself so you can forgive others. If
there’s only one part of the Christian Bible you decide to read, make it the
Sermon on the Mount. It summarizes the path of the heart.
Wishing
you great peace and with love,
Your
grandfather.
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