Half Empty or Half Full?

In 1883, the Emancipation Proclamation was declared, by Abraham Lincoln, our first Republican President.

In 1865, the Civil War ended. 

In the 1920’s, the Ku Klux Klan had an estimated 3,000,000 – 6,000,000 members.  In 2012, it had 5000-8000, and is denounced by virtually every Christian Denomination.  I think the exception may be the wacko Westboro Baptist Church, who is actually so out there that they are denounced by the KKK.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, well, obviously, in 1964.

The Voting Rights Act passed in 1965.

The Fair Housing Act passed in 1968.

Today is June 25, 2015.  2015.   Years later.

In 2015, I live on a street where the majority of people are, contrary to its meaning, minorities, and it’s a very typical middle class neighborhood.  We all live in similar houses, have similar jobs, drive similar vehicles (though I’m probably the weirdo outcast with my fluorescent green car), and lead similar lives.  All of our children play together, we lend each other lawn mowers when someone’s no longer works, and we look out for each other.  One of those families, whose son never played for any elite baseball team but that of his public school, can now be proud he made it to the MLB, an organization that no longer has separate teams for whites and non-whites.  Some of those families very well may have voted for Barack Obama, the President of the United States, our first black President.  Some of them have children or grandchildren under 5, and the majority of children under five in this country today are minorities.

Are there still people that are racist?  Sure there are.  There are also people that are sexist, homophobic, anti-whatever-religion, and that think my son is being drugged by uncaring parents because he takes medication for a neurological disorder, but there has been so much progress made in all of these areas over time, and it will continue to get better. 

Dwelling on the past, ignoring the present and any progress made in between, and placing blame on “groups” as a whole and forgetting that people are individuals, gets you nothing but negativity.  Progress is impossible with this attitude.

Realizing we have been getting better and better as time goes on, gives you hope.  Hope is the catalyst of progress.

I read something amusing recently…you can think the glass is half full, you can think the glass is half empty, but either one is missing the point, it is refillable.

You can believe that if that if the water level in that glass goes down, it will eventually be gone.  You can believe that if the water level goes down, there is at least still some left.  Or you can believe there is a faucet in the kitchen with an endless supply that fills it again and again, always having not only enough, but more.  Change doesn't have an end.

That’s why they have wine.  And my glass is refillable.