April 13, 2016 – Sold Out

Sold Out

“Someone sold us out —
but only when we ceased to pay attention.”

Timothy Findley (1930-2002) The Telling of Lies

These words seem to be meant especially for us — we who are alive right now. Being “sold out,” means we’ve been betrayed, two-timed, double-crossed — and thus oppressed. Values that we hold dear and presumed honored in our culture are often degraded, ignored, or mocked. To compound the issue, people on both sides of the liberal/conservative spectrum feel the same, often for different reasons.

When did this happen? How did this happen?

Whatever the answers turn out to be, part of the reason is that we–all of us–have been distracted, not paying close enough attention. In response I offer for reflection the words of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (1898-1980):

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there’s a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of of the darkness.”