Reply #20: This is an interesting thread. [View All]

I've read and re-read it several times. It has been tempting to respond to a few of the thoughts expressed on here -- valid thoughts, many deeply felt, and expressed very well. So here goes ...

"Power" is our version of the Latin base "posse," meaning to "possess the ability." "Powerlessness" is perhaps best understood as when an individual views his/her "locus of control" as being external (in the hands of others), rather than being internal (in their own hands). In reality, we all have a degree of power, though as St. Francis points out in that famous saying, there are things we have the ability to change, as well as things we cannot. The key is knowing the difference between the two.

We find examples of individual and group power and powerlessness, thoughout history. A few that I find interesting are Viktor Frankl's experience in the Nazi death camp; my good friend Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's 20 years in the darkness of the American penal institutes; and the Onondaga Nation's struggle to remain sovereign in its dealings with New York State and the USA.

Frankl shows that an individual can grow, not because of man's inhumanity to man, but despite it. Carter tells us that in order to do that, we must not only grasp that internal locus of control, but we must be willing to give up the anger and hatred that we too often treasure. The Onondaga teach us that we must maintain trust in our traditional values, no matter how quaint or outdated they may seem to others in our modern Roman state.

I've spoken numerous times on DU about having been hit by a person driving while chattering on a cell phone. I went from being a strong, healthy, athletic person, who had a wonderful life with a beautiful wife and four children, and a job I loved .... to a physically disabled person who can no longer do many of the things I used to take for granted. I'm usually found in the chair I sit in now, as I write these words. But some days, I get up and walk around. Last year, when I was alone, I walked outside to look up at the night sky. Well, I can't look up without falling. I fell, and spent a couple hours flat on my back, like an old turtle, waiting for my sons to get home and pick me up. That is one type of powerlessness. I will admit that I felt frustrated, and even a bit sorry for my sorry self. But after a few minutes, I remembered why I had come outside ... to look at those stars and planets. And laying there, I realized that the same energy in that great universe was also inside me.