Have you ever found yourself in a position that you thought you knew what you were going to write about.  You had a plan in your head, and even a post that you commented on that said exactly how you felt, and you wanted to share it, and it would have been a perfect way to begin?  Me too!

I even made a note on the calendar that today I was going to write about my thoughts regarding the release of Go Set A Watchmen.  Harper Lee, who wrote the beloved To Kill A Mockingbird second book.  Which if I understood correctly was actually the first book she attempted to get published.

Funny how things work out isn’t it?  What she originally had thought was her plan, took an unexpected turn.  The rest is history.  People fell in love with the story and then fell in love all over again with the movie.  It was for the best wasn’t it?  Was it?

When I sat down to write this July blog, it was an unexpected disappointment that the words I used to express my opinion of learning Atticus was not a saint – was lost.  Maybe that was for the best.  As I heard the fuss made that this man.  This very human man, born and raised in a time of segregation.  Following and lived with what he was exposed to.  What was feared.  And ultimately what he could learn by studying law.  That you can be raised in a culture of narrow minded, scared hate.  And yet still be a damn good attorney.  Represent your client to the best of your ability first.  Understand and interpret the laws of this land.  And keep the ugly out of the court room.  Only allowing the fair and just to abide there.

It was for the best.  Yes?  Perhaps it really was for the best.  Perhaps this is exactly what was suppose to happen and there is no ‘unexpected’ bumps in the road.  I loved Atticus too.  He was the epitome of good when so much evil lurked in the hearts of men.  He was used as an example, to grow up and be like him, to remember the story and be proud of the man he was.  But, that man was a human being.  He was not a saint, he was not all knowing or all good.  No one is.  Right?  Right.  I think the release of Harper Lee’s book is at the exact time it was supposed to be published.  Why?

Because we’ve all grown up enough now to have a conversation, to ask questions, to look a little closer and see things a little clearer.  We can actually begin to understand, and with understanding the fear slips away and there is growth.  We grow within ourselves, in our hearts and homes and with a little grace, perhaps as a nation.  Is that unexpected?  Maybe.  I think some prefer to have things separate.  To keep the fear alive and well and nurtured.  To reject change in any shape or form.  Is that to be expected?  No.  Please no.

Change will happen, ready or not here it comes.  Will it be easy or painless? No, I think we all go through growing pains.  We stretch and bend and thankfully begin to accept with a little less fuss.  What becomes unexpected now is the anger shown, the ignorance, the people who are not nurtured.  They are the ones who are abused from neglect, lack of education, lack of support and they fall back into what is primal and easy to understand.  Anger – which nurtures hate, which is taught in the home and faults the school systems, and rejects support, but will steal and lie and cheat for no other purpose than they can simply get away with it.

Notice, I did not say that is a particular community of people.  Hey – we’re ALL one race – human, we’re different religions, colors, nationalities – so can we please just say people?  Yes.  We can.  Everything I described above can fit into every shade of colored human, from pale to midnight and everything in between.

Every culture can learn something from Harper Lee’s first book.  And unexpectedly, every culture can also learn something from her second book.  And shouldn’t we?  Isn’t that how growth stays strong and healthy – by learning?  Yes.  Even if we learn something we were not expecting – we can grow from it.  WE can find the good in it.  See the light in it, as it were.  Find the meaning.  From there, well, anything is possible.  And isn’t that an unexpected place to be?

I hope YOU find yourself in a wonderful, unexpected place.  Even if it is in your own heart.  You might just be surprised how much love you find there and how much the world needs to see it.

Breathe Deep, Think Peace

Patty