Remove
the Blinders
“We
pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted to sense
and guess what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is
untied can we glance at the past and find out what we have experienced and what
meaning it has.”
Milan
Kundera (Laughable Lovers)
Yesterday,
during the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, I watched again the video footage
of his followers storming the Capital on January 6th. Even from the
safety of my home, I was horrified. On the day of the insurrection, I received
a text from my son telling me to turn on the TV. When I did, I felt as one
might while watching a slow-motion train wreck—removed from the action but
knowing somehow that this is going to be forever imprinted in my brain. It
reminded me of the day the Challenger exploded, when we watched in disbelief,
knowing that it was happening, mesmerized by the spiraling flumes of smoke, but feeling
numb to the reality of it.
Yesterday, I wondered what seeing the
events at the Capital again in such graphic detail must be like for those who
were there that day—both our representatives and the rioters. Was it
traumatizing? Did the rioters still have the jubilant feeling of achievement?
Or did the dire consequences of what occurred on January 6th sink in
for the first time. Five people died. One hundred and forty police officers
injured, and one killed. The capital ransacked, and the battle flag of the
Confederacy paraded through the halls of Congress, which didn’t happen even
during the Civil War. Armed rioters searching for the Vice President of the
United States and Speaker of the House to murder them. Let that sink in.
Even now,
we can hardly comprehend it. We will have to wait for history to interpret what
it means in the life of this country. Our bodies provided a window of numbness
during the actual events to help us get through it without being paralyzed by
fear. Now, we can observe it in retrospect, and begin to understand just how
devastating it was. Like the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassination of John Kennedy, 9/11, and the
Challenger explosion, that day of insurrection will live in infamy, and its
imprint will be a burden we carry in our hearts for the rest of our lives.
The
blindfold has been lifted from our eyes. Whether we like it or not, we must
look at ourselves and where our division and animus have led us. This is not
reality television. This is simply reality and people are forever marked by it.
May we have to courage not to put the blinders back on. May we confront this horrifying
truth with humility and willingness to change.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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