Spreading some hope

[rgraham666]

There's a lot of anger and despair showing up on the threads these days.

I'm going to try and counter that.

People, feel free to post anything here that gives you hope. That tells you, and hopefully others, that this isn't the end. In spite of darkness and fear, there is hope.

For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments. This you may say of man--when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and distintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back. This you may say and know it and know it. This you may know when the bombs plummet out of the black planes on the market place, when prisoners are stuck like pigs, when the crushed bodies drain filthily in the dust. You may know it in this way. If the step were not being taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the bombs would not fall, the throats would not be cut. Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers live--for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live--for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken. And this you can know--fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe."

--The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 14

 

[done_got_old]

There's a lot of anger and despair showing up on the threads these days.

I'm going to try and counter that.

People, feel free to post anything here that gives you hope. That tells you, and hopefully others, that this isn't the end. In spite of darkness and fear, there is hope.

Tomorrow has always given me hope. I think back on all of the challenges I've faced.........strange they don't seem so bad now............ Tomorrow!

 

[rgraham666]

Here's some more.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

 

[carsonshepherd]

thanks rob... needed summa that...

 

[rgraham666]

And one more.

Old pirates, yes, they rob i;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took i
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the ’and of the almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
’cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
’cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? ooh!
Some say it’s just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfil de book.

Won’t you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
’cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
---
/guitar break/
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! have no fear for atomic energy,
’cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it’s just a part of it:
We’ve got to fulfil de book.
Won’t you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
’cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.

 

[ElizabethWest]

Here's some more.

Thanks Rob, for reminding...

 

[EmeraldKitten]

I got a book of positive thoughts a while back, and made a list of my favorites.
Whenever I'm feeling down about whatever, I go through and read it, and somehow it seems to make me feel better.
~K

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*Change your thoughts, and you change your world.

*Seek not good from with-out: seek it within yourselves, or you will never find it.

*Every good thought you think is contributing its share to the ultimate result of your life.

*We have to learn to be our own best friends, because we fall too easily into the trap of being our worst enemies.

*Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

*The hopeful man sees success where others see failure; sunshine where others see shadows and storm.

*Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

*If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won before you have started.

*We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

*For myself I am an optimist- it does not seem to be much use being anything else.

*I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.

*I am an idealist. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.

*Whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all it’s sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

*Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?

*Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities- always see them, for they are always there.

*It doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.

*Trust your hopes, not your fears.

*Be glad today. Tomorrow may bring tears. Be brave today. The darkest night will pass. And golden rays will usher in the dawn. Who conquers now shall rule the coming years.

*The trick is not how much pain you feel- but how much joy you feel. Any idiot can feel pain. Life is full of excuses to feel pain, excuses not to live, excuses, excuses, excuses,.

*Gray skys are just clouds passing over.

 

[minsue]

 

[impressive]

What min said.

 

[angelicminx]

Thanks Rob.

There is a silver lining to every cloud.

There is a rainbow at the end of every storm.

 

[Guest]

No matter what others might do and what others might say.
No matter what hurt you feel,
No matter what tears you cry and despair you go through,
No matter what life throws at you,
You are still you and you matter.

You matter to those who love you.
You matter to those whose lives you touch.
You matter to those you share a smile with.
You matter to me.
You matter.

~ Katie-Lou

 

[Kassiana]

Slavery as an acceptable societal norm is a thing of the past in most civilized countries.

Despite whatever else happens, your pet will always love you. (Case in point: my female cockatiel I got as a graduation present in 1994 is calling to me.)

There's plenty of porn here, and it's free!

Everyone makes mistakes. Oh yes, they do. -- Big Bird, Sesame Street

Humor is usually my safety valve. (Gee, Kass, we never would have guessed. Thanks!) Thus, this joke.

Nicolae Ceaucescu, Saddam Hussein, and Adolf Hitler all died and went on to the next world. They were waiting in the waiting room when a voice came over the intercom telling Ceaucescu to go to room 1, where he found a mad dog. "Mr. Ceaucescu, you have sinned," said the voice, "and must spend eternity with this mad dog."

The voice spoke again in the waiting room and told Saddam to go to room 2, where he found a big gorilla. Again, the voice told Saddam that he had sinned and therefore had to spend eternity with that big gorilla.

Hitler then was told to go to room 3, where to his surprise he found Kirsten Dunst. Over the intercom he heard, "Kirsten, you have sinned..."

 

[elsol]

80 million Americans are armed... revolutionaries have done more with less.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[rgraham666]

Kass, if Kirsten Dunst is my punishment in hell, I've got to get to work a-sinnin'.

oh *bump*

 

[elsol]

Kass, if Kirsten Dunst is my punishment in hell, I've got to get to work a-sinnin'.

Kirsten Dunst has a very fascinating pair of breasts... they aren't the best but there is something about them.

If she's walking around hell topless, then I've got some commandments to violate.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[maggot420]

row row row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily merrily merrily merrily
life is but a dream

- words to live by

 

[Dar~]

When I see my son smile
Hope is there

When I hold him for awhile
Hope is there

When my daughter cries, I love you
Hope is there

When her smiles give me a new view
Hope is there

When I hold my husband in the night
Hope is there

When he's gone fighting a madman's fight
Hope is there

When I pray to god my soul to keep
Hope is there

When I sleep a dreaming sleep
Hope is there

When I see a flower bloom
Hope is there

When love fills homes every room
Hope is there

and finally, when the day is new
And I know you feel it too
hope is there.

 

[cantdog]

Dar's back.

 

[Dar~]

Dar's back.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[cantdog]

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

This is the hope thread; 'course it's good. You got a sweet kid there.

 

[Dar~]

This is the hope thread; 'course it's good. You got a sweet kid there.

Thanks He's my angel!! wanna see another cute one?!

 

[cantdog]

Wow! She's amazing.

Be proud.

 

[Dar~]

Wow! She's amazing.

Be proud.

I am
my hubby and me we makes cute kids!

Thank God we are done, I am already beating back prespective (SP) suiters . . .They are my hope.

 

[cloudy]

Thank you, Rob, for starting this thread.

I've been one of those that has felt despair after reading some things an ijit posted, but after thinking about it, I don't feel that way anymore.....after all...our voices are still heard, right?

 

[rgraham666]

You're welcome cloudy.

Lovely daughter you have there Dar. I wish sometimes I had kids. Too late now though.

And now, in keeping with the spirit of this thread, a favourite from my childhood.

"I still live!" Edgar Rice Burroughs