Reply To: On Tyranny Lesson 20: Be as courageous as you can
Now is not a time to sit back and wait to see what will happen. This is not the time to think we just have to get through four years and then we’ll go back to the way things were. This is not the time to succumb to apathy or turn off the news because it upsets us. First we have to fight our internal battle of what we as individuals can and are willing to do. My dad always said to pick my battles carefully. What can I afford to lose and what must I absolutely win? The first thing I must conquer is my fear. After I stuff my fear in my back pocket so I can sit on it then I must move forward doing anything I possibly can to be heard. Hopefully my voice will encourage another voice to speak up. Hopefully, if I don’t give up others won’t either. I need to keep asking questions to learn what others are thinking. What is motivating them to the point that they cannot see how their very freedoms are slowly, silently being stolen. I must fine tune my conversation skills to keep the conversations flowing – to prevent defensiveness from taking over and ending communication.
When dark times come and we have to walk through that dark tunnel of fear and despair there is always a speck of light at the end of the tunnel. That little speck of light has gotten me through many difficult times. Each time, as I walked through that dark tunnel of despair that little dot of light grew. Each step, each growth of that speck of light encouraged me to keep going and helped me see where my steps were leading. That speck of light is hope. That’s what I must hang onto once again. Hope that one day we shall overcome this tyranny.
