By Rev. Paul Graves
As I pulled up to the stoplight by the mall, I saw the gentleman sitting on his 4-wheel walker on the traffic island. His sign said: “Please help an 87-yr-old vet if you can. Thank you.”
As our eyes met, I raised my hands in a helpless gesture and continued to lead the cars queued up behind me. I felt bad. I knew nothing of his circumstances. Still, I carried him home in my heart, somewhat ashamed that’s all I chose to do. Other excuses drifted around in my mind.
Now, still thinking of the Veteran’s plea, I wrestle in a new way with the words and impact of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 1970 hit song, “Teach Your Children Well.” Their lyrics have been an earworm for me in recent weeks, so I made a new sign for our street corner vigil: “Teach your children well: VOTE.”
I believe our votes in November matter a great deal. I also believe our civic action is one way to “teach our children well”. We are in a critical political time when positive action is essential! We must contribute to making healthy changes in our country’s government – and in our hearts.
I’m particularly pleased that Graham Nash was cross-generational in his musical admonition. You, who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by. And so, become yourself. Because the past, is just a goodbye. Teach, your children well, Your father’s hell did slowly go by; And feed, them on your dreams. The one they pick, the one you’ll know by.
His second verse reversed his lesson: And you, of tender years, can’t know the fears that your elders grew by. And so, please help them with your youth, they seek the truth before they can die. Teach, your parents well, Their children’s hell, will slowly go by, and feed them on your dreams. The one they pick, the one you’ll know by.
Oh yeah, there are so many life-things to teach one another! At least when we’re open to learning. For instance, I want our son, daughter-in-law and 3 adult grandchildren to teach me how I might have responded better to the old veteran – or to the next person holding a “help” sign.
Are you familiar with The Starfish Story, a short fable inspired by Loren Eisley’s essay “The Star Thrower”?
An old man walks along the ocean beach after a storm and sees thousands of starfish. He sees a young boy pick up the animals one by one and throw them back into the ocean. I imagine the old man, semi-gruffly, asks the boy why he wastes his time rescuing a few starfish when the beach is overcrowded with thousands. The boy’s effort wouldn’t make a big difference.
The boy looked at the old man as he threw another starfish into the surf: “It makes a difference to this one.”
I often feel like Don Quixote, tilting at windmills, intent on making a difference. Or like the boy on the beach, trying to make a difference to just a few, insignificant starfish. And I’ve tried to teach our family well that little gestures of difference-making are important – both in the moment and in a more universal way. And then I see the old Vet. I have more to learn! The saying from Ecclesiastes 11:1, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days?” It’s a simple reminder that what we offer freely and without expectation of reward is very likely its own reward. Starfish? Bread? Cast away!
The Rev. Paul Graves is a retired elder member of the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.
