[Johnathan]
Self-reliance and compliance
with the golden rule won’t fuel
autocratic, tyrannical rule
if congeniality and harmony
weave through a tapestry
of cooperative human enterprises
comprised of expanding consciousnesses
seeking a better common ground.
Is this not what Compton and company found
to be true?
The individual is the single, critical unit
that fits into all unions forming human attachments
with varying bond-strength in one to one or one to many
that determines the quality of interactions.
The actions and reactions of human intercourse
for better or worse flow from the same source.
The Uncaused Caused of the First Cause
chose to populate reality with diversity
through the liberation of multitudinous, minute wholes of Its Self
to develop and evolve through cause-effect chains ordained
by individual free will that chose the path to travel,
obliged to unravel the mysteries and lessons to be learned
that inform the formless soul that seeks to know
its true self.
Omar, you’re never far from your iPad.
Query the internet to fetch the world’s population.
Yolanda, as a high school junior, is your self unchanged
from your tenure as a small child?
[Yolanda]
My tastes are not the same and I’m not so easily tamed.
I no longer see all adults as caring individuals
and I consult others less because I trust what I assess as best.
So, I’m not the same.
I’ve learned more and keep score of others’ behaviors I abhor.
[Omar]
As of this moment, that is instantly the past,
7.82 billion souls stroll our vast Earth.
[Phillip]
You, Yolanda, Omar and I with all of us
are each a discrete and complete zygote
that will grow and know the full potential
of the essential essence of the Creator’s choice
to seed reality to propagate trillions of elements
combined in a series of events
one upon the previous in ever ascending context
from the very simple to the super complex
in the process defined in Bronowski’s text
as “stratified stability” which amply permeates my focus.
From what I have seen and learned I have discerned
that Bronowski’s perception is a valuable foundation
to understand the manifestation
of intelligent life as our place in a continued evolution.
Individualism is a construct of reality
that forms groups that constitute the greater society.
Tyranny or democracy are equally possible outcomes
of how individuals succumb to the dictums schooled
as the collective loyalty for the common good.
The tyrant can’t rule
without a collective of cronies
schooled and ruled by his bullying tactics
rewarding his henchmen’s disgusting antics.
[Crystal]
The intangible essence of the self,
of you, Omar, and all of us
does not thrive on pages in a book on a shelf.
My intangible self is fused throughout the matter
that forms the vessel through which it moves.
Our five senses cannot perceive the essence that is me.
Human consciousness transcends the senses
and comprehends the soul through abstraction and reflection.
[Renee]
The handshake is the best expression
of what was lost and what needs to be regained.
The visible sign of the invisible bond,
hand in hand, the firm shake,
that seals the commitment not to forsake,
takes on a living lesson yet to be learned
whether the agreed upon terms
will be met without concerns.
Trust must be renewed if progress is to ensue.
Caution is advised by the wise
who know that all smiles do not show
the same genuineness to confess
the same goal professed as the targeted quest.
Lawyers were born from past mishaps,
scorned betrayals foreboding treachery,
that plays out with words arguing facts with lies
contrived as deceits from which evil creeps.
[Bob]
So, all things considered,
what the cell is to the body,
the individual is to society.
It is easy to see
that the health of the cell
foretells the body’s longevity.
Cancer cells quell hopes
for an extended long life
while homeostasis measures
the basis for harmonious function
of the body’s cells’ cooperative actions
to supply the provisions for a healthy existence.
So, too, does societal strife
emerge from individual souls
rife with greed moved by narcissistic needs
to exceed what is required to succeed humanly
[Omar]
If individualism is to find your own way
and if we convey self-reliance as the achievable goal
then the role of community appears counterproductive
to our attempt to construct a society thusly formed.
Additionally, self-reliant individuals would compete robustly
especially when required resources are significantly limited.
Is this not fertile ground bound to breed narcissism and greed?
[Crystal]
Since all mammals require mothers to feed,
every infant is stringent in their dependent needs.
The speed with which self-reliance is achieved
is coded into law as eighteen and twenty-one.
No one is gifted with instant enlightenment nor
knowledge nor skill that necessitates others to problem solve
the subtle entrapments and greedy resolve
to take all resources needed to sustain the course
of those lives struggling to survive, let alone thrive.
We toil to learn to read, to think critically, to communicate
to sink childhood time into books, to earn what we learn
through concerted effort and work to take on challenges
that lurk in unseen berserk difficulties
complicating any smooth path for our many journeys.
Seven point eight two billion souls
had no control over mothers or fathers,
brothers or sisters or any circumstances of birth.
Each soul’s path upon Earth is unique to each
composed of multitudinous variables and non-linear elements
that cement the truth of unique arrays
of growth points that play out differently
for each soul working up a resume
of skills and benefits to barter
for bits of power and coin to incur responsibility
that improves the possibility to gain more of the same.
What’s pertinent to the sentiment of my intent
is that each of us here and everywhere
share similarities, yet evolve uniquely
dependent upon our desires and self discipline
that’s strong or weak, that speaks truth or acts uncouth.
[Yolanda]
What’s a growth point?
[Crystal]
You’re younger sister, Diane,
does she plan her Saturdays around boys?
[Diane]
Are you serious?
She’s curious about bugs and frogs
and glitter on homemade greeting cards.
She’s only eleven and she’s in heaven
on the phone with her friends.
[Crystal]
Omar, what fills your older brother’s free time?
[Omar]
His prime focus is on completing college.
He’s hedging all his bets on grad school;
so he’s pooling his efforts on good grades,
well paid part-time work and accolades from his professors.
Otherwise, he sleeps.
[Crystal]
Yolanda, you’ve been advancing your dance for years.
What commands your fraternal brother’s brand of enjoyment?
[Yolanda]
His greatest entertainment is hunting
and camping and photographing wild animals.
[Crystal]
A growth point is one element of a lesson
populated by many elements, or,
a single lesson with one exigent, significant task
to be unmasked and conquered
to deter a languishing life
of vanishing achievements.
There is a principle of physics
that is quite simple:
No two objects can occupy
the same space at the same time.
The matter of my body, as does yours,
defines the space the soul will grace
as we place foot in front of foot
on the path we took to look
to find what we aspire to discover
or recover or simply enjoy.
Position, you see, anchors perception.
To the left of the threshold to the kitchen
is an old light switch plate
that serves to decorate and inform.
Can you see it, Kevin?
[Kevin]
The bookcase forsakes my view.
[Crystal]
Diane can see it
but Yolanda understands it
because she’s been here before.
[Diane]
I see it, but what is it?
[Crystal]
It’s Kokopelli playing his flute
but the issue is not to compute
our degree of knowledge of Kokopelli.
The issue is position’s importance to perception.
Yolanda comprehends
what Diane sees
which Kevin can’t perceive.
Position refers to place, and time.
The condition of our nature is individualism.
Community is a proposition we chose
to augment our condition.
Growth points we resolve
evolve our consciousness
to develop, accept or reject
propositions to our condition.
[Marlo]
As an unfamiliar participant
Kevin was dependent upon observational skills
to avoid consuming the bitter pill, “nincompoop”
within a tightly knitted group
practiced in being committed to reflection
and honesty that was remarkably
candid, spontaneous and joyous.
A naive faux pas
in such an encounter
would anger his self esteem
such that he deemed it prudent
to never be first in line
and decline voicing his opinion
but, when politeness required,
he’d speak briefly but succinctly.
He’d followed Bill’s lead
hopefully to be freed from embarrassment.
The conversation halted
with Crystal’s exalted praise
of the student’s participation
and her announcement:
[Crystal]
Thank all of you for your insights
that shed light on your understanding.
You, students, have journal responses to record
and other readings to absorb.
The rest have the best of the evening
to invest in personal experiences
to enhance your excellence.