At The Crossroad
UNPUBLISHED 

          We are none of us perfect. We trod through life as best we can perhaps never being challenged in the way of honor. History is full of stories of men and women of honor, by the same token, it chooses to forget those moments of weakness that make those instances of honor admirable. History teaches us that there are three reactions when honor and courage are challenged. One may runaway from the challenge. Options considered some find themselves wanting. Honor, courage, and dignity, in this instance, are lacking.

One may be frozen by the enormity of the challenge set before them. They may want to advance, or may want to flee; however, both forces working upon them equally they are stuck. Perhaps stating that the forces working upon them equally making it difficult to advance or retreat is too kind. Perhaps they too are lacking the honor, courage, and dignity required to face the challenge head-on. Whatever the case, when time for action came upon them, they were found lacking.

          Now we arrive at the hero, the one who displays honor when it would be easier to do otherwise. The hero summons courage when fear is all about. The hero offers only dignity in the face of the challenge, but offers up the dignity willingly. Do not assume that the hero is without fear. Perhaps he or she is, but that assumption looks past true courage. True courage overcomes the fear to act, and at the same time acknowledges that the fear must be overcome.

          We citizens of the United States find ourselves facing a challenge. We as a nation have a choice to make. Shall we walk forward to meet that which is undermining the democracy so many have courageously defended, or shall we retreat from right and reveal that we as a nation are wanting. Democracy or more to the point, the defense of democracy requires courage. To hold up democratic principles requires respect for the dignity of one’s self and those who share that democracy. For a democracy to survive requires those who would have it, to honor those who would share it with truth, and to listen to fair arguments, even though one may have contrary view. There is no working around the courage, honor, and dignity that true democratic societies must hold dear.      

          There are others who would hold up the United States as a beacon of freedom and justice, or at the very least, a nation that struggles to find a sticking point there. Yet, they stand silent during the current day’s events. They are dumb-struck, and thus paralyzed, are struck dumb as democracy crumbles around them. Those who stand still not able to move forward and yet too scared to retreat are no defenders of justice. Those who stand still not able to move forward and too scared to retreat are not courageous, nor are they honorable. They stand still when action is demanded and have their honor stripped from them.

          So now we have arrived at the hero. The hero does not always win, but is always willing to fight against tyranny. The hero will not survive the battle unscathed, if they are allowed to survive the battle at all. Knowing that, the hero walks forward chest bared so that all can see the case for which they will forsake their safety. Honor bound to a history that demands honor if it is to be saved for prosperity, the hero with dignity will stand, or fall, but in any event will not go quietly. Be careful here to understand that they hero is not a specific type. The hero is not based on gender, color, or culture. The hero just is.

         We  are at the crossroad of justice and tyranny. It is our time to choose. Those who desire to retreat should do so now. Those who find themselves unable to run, but not willing to move forward, they too should leave the battlefield. The United States is at the crossroads of democracy and despotism. Here many have revealed themselves as wanting. For those who are left; those heros in service of saving democracy; those honorable souls who are always seeking justice and truth; let us move forward. Now is the time when we are challenged, now is the time that true patriots live for. If we are firm in our fight; if we leave it all on the battlefield for the sake of the nation, they will not remember us individually, but collectively they will honor the heroes that we have been challenged to become. Democracy is not defined by those who will sit and enjoy it, but rather by those who will stand and defend it. We are at a crossroad one road leads to democracy, the other to tyranny.  The reckoning has come.