Timber Valley SKP Park of Oregon, Inc

I NEED YOUR HELP
By Jackie Deal

There’s a word, or a phrase, that I need. I know it exists and it’s tucked way back in my mind. I‘ve thought and thought (a hard thing to do with so little practice.) Google it? Of course, no matter what we need; Google it, right? But the problem is: I don’t know what the word is that I want to Google. I tried and Google just got into a snit and so did I. I even threatened to flush it down the toilet, but it knew better.

Dictionaries! AW! I have two huge dictionaries that I haven’t used since Google and Yahoo came along. Down on my hand and knees to dig them out of the bottom of the book case. Ugh! They weigh a ton. Blow off the dust. And then realize. You can’t look up a word if you don’t have a word to look up! Remember when your kids were little: “Mmmaaaa, how do you spell it?” And you said, “Look it up” and they said, “Mmmmaaa, how can I look it up if I can’t spell it?” Smart alecks!

Aw Ha! Roget’s Thesaurus. What a waste of time. Nothing even close. Can’t find antonyms and synonyms if you don’t have a word to begin with.

So what is this word I’m so steamed up about? Okay, let me explain. You know how after something bad goes along for a long, long time and you have to be on high alert and then eventually you begin to not really care anymore? It’s sorta like burn-out, only that’s not really it. It’s maybe what happens down in Louisiana or Mississippi (remember learning to spell that in grade school? M-i- curly que-curly que-i curly que-curly que- i-humpback-humpback i.) Now if you’ve just moved there, (no matter how it’s spelled) and there’s an evacuation ordered for hurricanes or tornadoes. You leap into the car, Whoops! Grab the kids and the dog and then leap into the car. But as it happens over and over you move slower and finally you say, “Aw what the heck, it’s just hype.” And you don’t leave.

It happened in London during the bombing by Hitler. At first everyone dashed into the shelters and stayed down low. But night after night when they weren’t hit; well, finally some of them didn’t run so fast or didn’t run at all. Unfortunately, then some of them never ran again.

It’s an actual medical condition. You can tolerate a condition of high adrenalin just so long. Adrenalin is the old “Fight or Flight” hormone. The Siberian tiger is attacking and you need to fight or get the blazes out of there. Nowadays, there’s no tiger but there’s still fearful and stressful situations and the adrenalin response kicks in. Continued high adrenalin can lead to high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.

But what I’m thinking of is more the emotional response. For seven month or so we’ve been on high alert. Social distancing: had you ever heard of that before the corona virus? Masks. Wash your hands. It’s posted on every doorway and in practically every bathroom. Don’t shake hands, don’t hug (What does a hug feel like?). And slowly we’re becoming a little lax.

We don’t know how much longer this will last. We do know that it’s supposed to get worse with the flu hitting, school starting and indoor gatherings in cold weather. Sounds like we should be more vigilant rather than less. But Oh. Ho hum.

And then we read the statistics: more covid positives this week than ever before. More deaths. Worldwide. And yes, right in our own counties and communities. Somehow we’ve got to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and remain vigilant. We’ve got to fight against that word that I can’t remember. Can you help me out? What is the word that I wanted to use for a title for this piece?

My friend is worried. I’m concerned too. It seems we’ve lost the three Cs. Caring, concern and compassion. We seem to have replaced them with spitefulness, name calling and hatred. Not even of our enemies but of our brothers and sisters.
OH, Yah, negativity has ruled before; anybody remember the aftermath of the Vietnam War? Now, during the Pandemic and pre and post-election, caring about others seems to be low on the list of important things. Better to rant, rail and rag than to seek compromise and caring.
My friend found a song from the 1960’s that she thinks holds the answer. Maybe you remember it?
Come on people now,
Smile on your brother,
Everybody get together,
Try to love one another,
RIGHT NOW!
The song has a very long and successful history. “Get Together” was the second single released from the Youngbloods’ debut album in July 1967. It became the de facto anthem of the “hippie movement” and it remains the Youngbloods most well-known and successful song to this day.
The song was originally recorded as “Let’s Get Together” by the Kingston Trio in a live performance in March 1964. Many prominent popular groups have recorded the song.
The most notable recording came in 1967, when the Youngbloods released their version under the title “Get Together”. It was used in a radio public service announcement as a call for brotherhood by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The Youngbloods’ version, the most-remembered today, was re-released in 1969, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Just think of the social boundaries this song has spanned: from “hippie” to National Conference of Christians and Jews. Perhaps it has a message we should consider.
In his book, “The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has the shepherd boy, Santiago, say, “the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse. And that’s where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.”
Are we striving to become better than we are or are we smugly tearing each other down? Can we heed the plea to love one another? RIGHT NOW! “Come on, let’s get together and love one another. RIGHT NOW!”