Oftentimes in my comments I will say that if I can introduce a `maybe ‘ into someone’s thinking,  we can help broaden premises.  Because I have lived long enough to see old ideas fail,  am I open to new ideas.   After due thought, I incorporate them  but  also realize that others are not as eager as I am.  We all know we cannot force feed an entire generation nor even attempt to change long established patterns of behavior.   People do what they do because to change any thing means that all things in the light of what is learned, must be examined.  People know this.  Humans know it.   It is not the work for the fainthearted.   It is the work of a human workaholic bent on cleaning up a mess of too many centuries old.

And in the process of reexamination and change,  what we grant to ourselves, we must grant to Others.   If freedom is ours, having freed ourselves either from a past holding us hostage or some other factor, we must grant to the Other, his.   If we claim the sun to shine on our heads, we must also grant space to the Other for the sun to shine.  What we have is a double edged sword.   We must also grant the right not to change to the Other.   If they prefer the status quo,  it must be granted.   But only if an Other’s space is not intruded upon.   By clinging to one’s own bent,  we cannot damage an Other.

When we have an entire generation bridling under a specific burden, it must be rectified.   That means whatever non-violent tools required, must be used.  We change things then bit by bit.  We know the dangers of drugs.   We know the crunch of unequal opportunities in all walks of life.   So we change by education, by election, by changing laws.  If we have a generation of grandparents seeing beyond their own children and grandchildren,  seeing across waters and generations to come,  we then have those who see life’s continuity.   When we have parents and grandparents viewing their own progeny as mortgage payments requiring due payment,  we will save liters of blood , not only our own but untold generations’ spilling endlessly on soil in wars not needing to be fought.  We will then make a difference.

A young man told me he knew what he was supposed to think and feel.  He said I will continue to try but at that moment he said he was scared.   I told him he was close to the kingdom.   He was.  Enough times told,  the frightened self will begin to change habits.

We can begin with a `maybe’ after due process of thought.