"My Dream Was Broken"

That quote was spoken out of the mouth of Dr. David Wesley. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at the River Falls Library on Tuesday. He was kind enough to answer a question I asked him at the end of his presentation on Israeli/Arab affairs. More specifically he wrote book by the name of: "State Practices and Zionist Images: Shaping Economic Development in Arab Towns in Israel" - I know mouthful right, but truly an interesting and enlightening topic.

The question I asked him at the end was: "What was your motivation for moving to Israel?" After I asked it, he was gracious enough to give me such an honest and heartfelt answer. After asking it, I thought maybe I was asking too personal a question. Regardless, I am glad I don't always think of these things when I am in a moment, because his answer has resonated with me for a week now.

He responded with the fact that (and this is indeed paraphrasing, but you will get the drift)he was 23 and wanted to help, and be part of something. It was 1955 when he moved to Israel and WWII was only 10 years past. He had experienced some anti-semitism and it truly gave him a heart for the Jewish people's plight and their nation building hopes. He was a man with a dream and it all began in a kibbutz. I think we should all live in kibbutz...the world would be such a more pure world in so many ways.

He was a man with ideals and all noble ones at that. When he ended his response, the last thing he said was: "My dream was broken." But what is really important about this is the fact that Dr. Wesley was able to find a new and more worthy dream to pursue. That is to be fair and just in an insurmountable world. To help people find a voice for those that don't have one and dream of one. To encourage a message of democracy, free of corruption. To believe in the best of humanity but to also be a realist when it comes to seeing what true oppression can force seemingly good people into doing. To spend a lifetime immersed in seeking knowledge and answers and to be a man of wisdom who God's word was not lost on. He has been working on a dream to be an observer of peace in Israel and Palestine in his lifetime. I pray that he does witness that. It is something we need now more than ever.

It was so enlightening to get a fresh perspective on the current relations in that area from someone who has lived there for over 75% of his life. You are hard pressed to find any unbiased information on that situation anywhere in this world these days. The discrimination and propaganda and just the imagery alone is so staggering and yet so limited to telling the true story.

The bottom line is both peoples need to take the necessary steps to living in Freedom on both sides. Those steps are probably unthinkable to many, but imperative to accept. True freedom is being active in preserving it, yet reasonable in living in it. As Marcus Cicero once said: "Freedom is the participation in power." If we don't participate in power we never really have it and we relinquish it to far too many people happy to take it all. But imagine if you have never even had that freedom to participate in your entire life. People just take for granted that we are supposed to be free, with no thought to it. Where have our ideals and dreams gone?

I don't mean to sound doomsday, because I believe we can make America the great (and I don't mean powerful) country it has always been. We are such blessed people with freedom, education, innovation, health, means, agriculture and countless other basics that the majority of people in the world live without. Not just one or two of the aforementioned, but NONE of them EVER in their lifetimes.

In a nutshell, I prescribe to the words of the 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower: "There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure."

And I am amused by the words of Bill Clinton as he paraphrases so nicely: "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

P.S. Anyone that is currently unemployed, don't give up on your dreams. It is time to turn it around. And it's time to volunteer until you land that next job. The world could use some help from good people.