vTHROUGH THE
LENS continued from page 30
situation they would encounter.
See we imagine everyday something, but do we act on it? We
imagine having more money, to pay bills, make a better life for
ourselves and our family. We may even imagine with more money
how we could fulfill the need to help others financially. Strangers
battling cancer or undergoing major surgeries without the ability
to pay for the treatment. A devastating fire or flood that has taken
away their home, destroyed every precious belonging they have.
We imagine a better job a profession where we feel we are
appreciated more, have control over our scheduled hours, where
we aren’t slowly losing our minds due to overwhelming stress and
punishing our bodies through the physical demand of hard labor
crippling it over time.
We imagine our children or grandchildren not having the same
struggles we endured growing up. We imagine a home filled with
love, humor, respect and encouragement between parents and
children. Where alcoholism or drug addiction, abuse physical and
mental don’t exist. There is food in the cupboards and refrigerator,
hot water and heat during cold days. Rodents and infestations aren’t
rampant, and children aren’t left alone to raise themselves.
We imagine our communities safe without shootings, homelessness,
prostitution, assaults and theft. We imagine our schools secure
and our children being challenged everyday to learn. To achieve
successes and to learn to be humble when there are failures.
We imagine a world where our nation and all countries have
religious freedom, where a man or woman’s character and actions
defines who they are and not the color of their skin. Where the
labeling of classes, gender, sexuality, racism, and political party are
not the vice that divides us all but the glue that bonds us together.
In the face of trouble do you confront the dilemma and challenge
yourself to attack it head on or do you close your eyes to it ever
existing and ignore it in hopes that it will disappear? Do you view
the world in only black or white, or do you see the many shades of
gray, light and dark that fall in between? Imagination is as powerful
as your faith, that can inspire change if you are willing to embrace it.
In an age when things seem to be going from bad to worse,
perhaps we need to engage the heart as much as the head. Love,
mercy, compassion…forgiveness. Are these qualities now moot….
irrelevant? We are better than this. We need to provoke and inspire
others and find our purpose. Not only looking through the lens and
imagining a picture of solidarity and compassion but capturing the
photograph of change itself.
In the words of John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but
I’m not the only one, I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world
will be as one…. Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, no
hell below us, above us, only sky, imagine all the people living for
today….Imagine” n
HERVOICEvMARCH/APRIL 2019v31