Kris Kristofferson, I think is one of the best story tellers of our time: his pallet is music and the colors he chooses are his descriptive lyrics. Almost every one of his songs is a story about life: sometimes tragic and sometimes joyful, all deal with human relationships. One of his songs is about how we see ourselves and how we see others we don’t like or don’t understand. The title of this post is a part of a song he wrote about our human condition. The song title is “Jesus was a Capricorn.” The first few lines read:
Jesus was a Capricorn—he ate organic food—he believed in love and peace—-he never wore no shoes—-long hair, beard and sandals—-and a bunch of funky friends—–reckon we’d just nail him up if he came down again.
Then the chorus: “ Cause everybody’s gotta have somebody to look down on. Prove they can be better than at any time they choose.”
Other lyrics: “Eggheads fussin’, rednecks cussin’ hippies for their hair. Others laugh at straights who laugh at freaks who laugh at squares.
Some folks hate the whites who hate the blacks who hate the clan. Most of us hate anything we don’t understand.”
I think the reason for this human condition is that if we can put someone down it kind of makes us feel a little superior. Most of the time those we put down are people with whom we have a disagreement. Democrats and republicans, liberal and conservative, Protestants and Catholics and atheists, gay and straight, blacks, and whites or Muslims are simple illustrations of the above. And Kristofferson reminds us most of us hate anything we don’t understand.
During WW2 we were a united country because we had a common foe, the same was true when we felt threatened by the Soviet Union. But when we don’t have a threat or a villain from the outside we somehow have to find one somewhere and so we begin to find fault with each other. “Cause everybody’s got to have somebody to look down on:” and “most of us hate anything we don’t understand.” Somehow our ego gets hooked in the process: it is ultimately important TO BE RIGHT!
The threat from the outside, ISIS, is still not strong enough to unite us and so we are constantly picking on each other and our political system is in shambles because each party seems to be out to get their own way or destroy the other regardless of what it might be doing to the general health of our nation.
Tolerance seems to be the key that unlocks the door so that we can begin to understand each other. It is important to listen to each other, to try to understand one another so that we don’t see anyone who disagrees with us as an enemy and therefore has to be proven wrong. To accomplish this is a gigantic task because our ego gets hooked and most of us might not know what to do if we don’t have someone to look down on: who makes us feel a little superior.
SOMEHOW I think we must find a source within ourselves so that we don’t feel so threatened by someone with whom we disagree. It is okay to disagree it is not okay to diminish or put down the person with whom we have the disagreement. SOMEHOW we have to realize they are not bad people because we do not see eye to eye. SOMEHOW we have to learn it’s not okay to belittle another person to others. SOMEHOW we must learn we cannot judge another person’s whole life over one incident or disagreement. SOMEHOW we must find the inward strength to be compassionate and understanding.
So what is this “SOMEHOW” thing? Well I think it has to do with seeing ourselves together with others in this thing called life. It means none of us are perfect nor can we fulfill everyone’s expectations. We are in this thing together and can help each other along the way. No matter how long we live we are still novices at this thing call life and we learn as we go and we can help each other along the way and if we really strive to do this, we won’t need someone to look down on to make us feel better about ourselves.
Jesus put it like this: “love one other as I have loved you.”
You probably knew I would throw in something like this.
This is one of my favorite posts. First of all, I love Kris Kistofferson and the lyrics in his songs, and secondly, totally agree with this post. It is Ok to disagree and many people don’t underwtqnd that it is OK. Kris is a very smart man and his songs almost always make me think!
Thanks”
Great post, Dick.
I too, am a big Kris Kristofferson fan. One of my all-time favorite lines of his was, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.,,” I think therein lies a big part of the problem. Our society has been so caught up in materialism and “security” we’re often losing sight of what does really matter, our relationships with one another and the world around us. When we get overly tied to our possessions we begin to lose our sense of freedom and also our sense of belonging with others. This whole cyber craze is not helping us, either. Too many people have become too caught up in hiding behind computer screens and taking cheap shots at anyone they can. We need to see one another as friends and not opponents.
Yes, good post, Dick. This is a lesson our nation is slow to learn, but let’s keep repeating it, anyway! My favorite Kristofferson song is “Why me, Lord?” — “…what have I ever done to deserve even one of the blessings I’ve known?”