During one of the most turbulent decades of this countries history we watched as three prominent figures; people that would have an everlasting effect on this countries history, were gunned down in separate and equally bizarre situations. First we lost John, then Martin, and finally Bobby. Today marks the date of that final tragedy in a Los Angeles hotel after delivering a stirring speech to supporters.
What can one say about a country that has been and continues to be one of the most violent on the face of the earth? We live in a country that was born out of bloodshed and has remained as powerful and equally complex because of the same reasons. We have given heroic license to those that have been, by all accounts, the true villains of our past, yet managed to remember the good deeds of those that have often been the victims of equally audacious circumstances.
It was the very words of Bobby Kennedy, spoken to a crowd in Indianapolis, with the intent of calming the angers of the minority community, that caused me to pick up my first classical book and begin reading at a level far above the level I was supposed to understand. Through my life my books have been a constant companion, often teaching me far beyond my understanding and explaining to me a level of compassion that I never really appreciated as much as I do now.
So I leave you with the words of a grieving brother that had the foresight to present himself as an example of strength, peace, and tolerance in times of turbulation when it would have been just as easy to speak of hate and revenge. His quote came from the words of Aeschylus, which he shared with a crowd of understandably hurt and angry people. To his credit, this man of peace made such a profound impact on that crowd and those that read of the events of that evening that Indianapolis, Indiana was one of the few cities that did not see race riots over the coming weeks, but saw silent strength through mourning and prayer, this demonstrating once again the power of the spoken word.
So, in remembrance of this quiet man of strength I once again remind you of that passage he held so dear:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.
Rest in peace Bobby, we shall never know the peace and justice that you might have brought into our everyday lives.
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