Listening again to Bowie's 'Heroes' inspired me a few thoughts about Lebanon. Here they are.
We can be heroes. Have courage. The courage to tell the truth. To stop lying. Stop pretending. Stop accepting the unacceptable and brand our cowardice "positivity".
The courage to accept the others the way they are. And stop being afraid of everything and everyone that’s different. The courage to be free. Not just posing as such. Truly free. Free from our shortcomings and prejudice. The courage to think our own thoughts. And be wrong. Sometimes.
The courage to say no when everyone else is nodding. And say yes when extended a hand in friendship. The courage to love when hate is all there is. The courage to be who we truly are. With honesty. And pride.
We can be heroes. Be true to our word. A word that reflects what we think. Not what we’d want others to believe we think. We can be heroes. Have integrity. Not sell our voice, our mind, our soul, to passing bidders. Not take dirty money and claim it’s clean. Some dirt never washes away.
The courage to say no when everyone else is nodding. And say yes when extended a hand in friendship. The courage to love when hate is all there is. The courage to be who we truly are. With honesty. And pride.
We can be heroes. Be true to our word. A word that reflects what we think. Not what we’d want others to believe we think. We can be heroes. Have integrity. Not sell our voice, our mind, our soul, to passing bidders. Not take dirty money and claim it’s clean. Some dirt never washes away.
We can be heroes. Have principles and stick by them. Call criminals and thieves by their names. Reclaim our republic. And together, patiently, build brick by brick the nation we complain we don’t have.
We can be heroes. We should be heroes. Not just for one day.
We can be heroes. We should be heroes. Not just for one day.
© Claude El Khal, 2016