"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people to whom fate brings you. But do so truly, sincerely, with all your heart." Marcus Aurelius*
There is always a voice of the cynic in me. Imprinted perhaps on my psyche by the environment in which I evolved as a child into adult. New York City of my time was nothing if not a place of opposing viewpoints.
As I age I find myself softening into a more liberal minded person. But the cynic in me is like a devil on my shoulder tainting every kind, noble impulse and instinct that emerges at any given moment with derision and scorn.
The inclination toward generosity of love is my nature. It took a long time of battling with myself to reach that conclusion. At last there is that peace even though the old me is still there. And that makes for an entertaining inner monologue.
Often I find myself in the minds of people who oppose anything that smacks of liberalism. Their very clothes seem ill-fitting and unattractive. Yet these are people. I struggle with how to confront and combat their hate and vitriol without becoming them. How do I love these folks to whom fate brings me when they hate my very existence?
Perhaps I will find the answers in Marcus Aurelius. Instead of praying to "...get rid of this detestable man," I should pray: "how may I not detest him."
Michelle Obama said: “When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is: 'When they go low, we go high'.”
The high road is the road of faith. Faith that mankind can survive its own very deadly shortcomings.
*Thank you Evan Robertson of www.obviousstate.com and his Meditations of Marcus Aurilius
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