Charles Dickens wrote a story, and I will admit it’s been ages since I’ve read it, but the opening lines are so familiar. They paint the ups and downs of a particular time of history.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Cliff Notes tells us this story deals with current events surrounding London and Paris, as economic and political unrest leads to the American and French Revolutions of the 1700s. First published as a weekly tale (1859), it covers the overthrow of the aristocracy in France but is critical of the reign of terror that follows. A “historical fiction”, it tells the story with a backward glance where you have the time to see the positive and negatives at work. Dickens uses fictional settings and personalities to describe the power of revolutions, but also the backlash of newly found power.
To understand the times, you must understand history. The making of the revolution was years in the process but took 10 years from the first major action until the completion. Guess the main General leading the fight? Napolean…
But think with me a moment. Sometimes we see the benefit of protesting a position, it leads to violent reactions and the result is extremely positive. Were the revolutions necessary? Popular? Destructive? Yes. Where does it lead?
Reach Forward In Time
I’ve been struck, again, by the violent reaction to a senseless and tragic death. Again. Death. Reaction. These two extremes seem to always go hand-in-hand. I cry against both, yet I am not at either place to understand the entire story. Death and destruction are often the end memories of the day. I cannot, as Dickens could in his story, bring someone back to the present and ask for them to speak to their experiences, but I wonder what our peaceful demonstrators of the past would say to us today.
Reaction not only happens at the place of origin, but we find it across the breadth of the landscape that paints our modern world. Only, it is not the Gandhi approach to peaceful demonstration, nor the countless worldwide examples of non-violent reactions to despicable acts so as to change our social structure. [Source] Rather, as in many May Day protests, it turns ugly and extremely violent. Somewhere on the opposite sides of the line drawn in the sand, protectors and protestors overreact to the moment. People get hurt. Property irrevocably damaged. Lives are changed.
The Flip Side Click To TweetNow. We see these same kinds of problems not only in the social construct of the day but also within businesses and families. It seems like our human reaction to negative experiences is to respond violently.
“We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes,
but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers..”
Brothers
Brothers. Each of us. Regardless of the color of our skin, country of origin, or history of our roots. We are brothers that need to learn simply to walk with each other. Brothers. Born from the same roots of time, we may have different mothers and origins, but the roots of our DNA are the same. We go back to Adam and Eve, and then Noah and his sons. Brothers. Think about it… Sometimes brothers are there for you, and sometimes they are not!
This concept of brothers also shows the disconnect… Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, David… Even Jesus. Having brothers is not always easy. From the moment of conception, we are each unique and different from the other. But when we recognize our roots, then we realize but for the flip of a moment, we might be exactly like the other. Brothers.
Through time, brothers grow apart, choose sides, and refuse to connect back to each other. I see it and experience every time I talk to my family at large. Though I’m blessed with Excellent Brothers, we are not alike, nor do we respond equally. Yet. We are brothers, there for each other in times of greatest need. Brothers may sit on opposite sides of the bargaining table, vote for a different color of politics, and even prove whether they can be trusted or not. Yes, brothers! Brothers are not just biological connections to the same parents but are genetically bound to our source from the beginning of time.
Not all brothers can be trusted, and if history tells the tale accurately, I approach any brother with this thought in mind: I don’t know them, let’s let time prove which side of the coin each comes down on.
Personal Thought
I’ve witnessed this, and it happens easily. The slightest change of situations puts each of us on the same side, or opposite side of any coin. Just the flip of a letter causes us to be either winner or loser, for or against, up or down, going with the tide or fighting it with every ounce of strength we have. My personal years of growth happened as a result of the home where we were taught equality. Later experiences of life taught me I needed to learn how to gauge every situation. I take everyone at face value until they show the other side…
Let me share a closing thought about flips…
Something happened to me many years ago. I learned that Hebrew is read from right to left The opposite of what I had always learned. Their original language had no vowels, nor punctuation. So. I tried something. I started perusing my English titles from the back to the front, right to left, as it were. When I sit on a plane, or in a waiting room, I pick up a magazine…skip the cover, table of contents, letters to the editors or even the headline story… I go to the back pages and flip my way forward. I want to understand the ending so I can make a better choice about the beginning… Oh, my. What a thought!
Let me share with you the back of the book of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities…
‘It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done;
it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.
The ending should tell a better tale than the beginning, but it should help us write a better beginning.