Eulogies

Honoring a person for achievements in life obviously is a loaded business.  So few humans are totally worthy of adulation . . . or admiration, or have uninterrupted credentials of fineness with few or no seams , , , whether or not they are showing.

The fact is that we have idols of different colors, strokes, idealistic fervors.  What speaks to me of bravery or accomplishment may leave others completely cold.  So many of the mom, apple pie and love for country myths have been shot through with disappointment, exposed as mostly marketing ploys to accomplish a political agenda . . . our rock-solid faith in the stellar character of our political leaders seems to be largely misplaced, a product of our own blinded imagery.  We can no longer simply believe in what we are told . . . our survival depends on sifting through lies, misrepresentations, abominations of all kinds and deciding for ourselves if an action is valuable and right.

Entertainers have existed since the dawn of time within the human race.  Adored, reviled, envied, idealized, they are people - who spend their lives extending pleasure to many others . . . giving of themselves so that pleasure comes to people who may need reassurance, support, or just a song which seems to speak to their needs.  It is also a public service, no matter how much some may want to discredit it.  They are not drafted, not placed into servitude for others to use, not indentured servants who must pay out their passage into society, or serve a cause which they did not create.

Are we becoming a nation of predators?  Angry attacks, denigration, name-calling, slandering - in order to judge and discredit any group of people who do not fit our ideas of rightness?  A blues song entitled "What's Done in the Dark Will Come to the Light" sets out the danger of the double life -- not just to the perpetrator, but to those who believe in and support the deceit.

Realize that no matter what perceptions we may hold - someone else has different ones.  Those are fully as important, as real, and likely as valid as any others.  No act commited by someone with views different from our own will ever diminish acts of courage, valor and dedication by those we love and venerate.  Believing otherwise is in itself dishonorable.