“No School like the Old School”

There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that we are living in very unparalleled times. Along with our political and governmental systems, our society and culture is going through major transformations. Consider the days when food was not Gluten free, pesticide free, or MSG free. Food was simply Organic. The days when our televisions turned off at midnight so that children would not see things that weren’t age appropriate. When texting meant passing each other a note, in order to get our message across. When God was publicly mentioned without the possibility, or fear of offending someone. Days when being disrespectful to your parents or elders was by no means tolerated. Oh, and the days when people actually protested peacefully, with actual knowledge of what they were fighting for, and for a plausible cause.

On June 21st, 2018, my dream explained a similar view to myself and that of our nation. I found myself in a dark room, all alone. Suddenly, I saw the American Flag waving in the air. I decided to take a closer look when I heard a very faint whisper in my ear. They said, “The dinosaur has replaced the Bald Eagle as the great American Symbol.” Shortly after that, my dream had ended.

From a spiritual standpoint, the dinosaur symbolizes an outdated attitude that is long gone. A symbol for a strong character and a large inner force. The American Flag represents peace and prosperity. It’s also calling our attention to National or International affairs. It may reflect the importance that one feels in imposing a stubbornly independent mindset to others. Could this be a symbol representing the need to go back to the way things were in order to move forward as a society, or maybe, the representation of the possibly “dying” American Dream? Are we moving backwards instead of forward? Or perhaps this is simply teaching us that it may be wise to re-visit our past, in order for us not to continue making the same mistakes. Maybe this is a call for all of America and the world, to re-evaluate, look back, re-think and organize ourselves and our priorities. If we look around, we seem to only be advancing in things like technology, pharmaceuticals, scientific advancements. However, we have sadly regressed immensely in matters of political views/separation, racism, morals and values, socially, religious values/beliefs, economic progress and so on. I believe that as a nation, we have lost our faith in our government and each other. We can name hundreds of things to place the blame on, yet ultimately, if we are going to see any change whatsoever, it will need to begin with each and every one of us. We have created this cloud of lies and confusion, of hatred and bigotry, self-centeredness and egotism, that we are completely blinded to the importance of the tools needed in order to return this great nation to how it truly was intended to be; peaceful and prosperous. Unless we as a society, make a drastic change, we will remain stagnant. We are losing the kind of people who nurture these types of ideas. As Martin Luther King once said, “We must rise above the narrow confines of man’s individualistic concerns of all humanity. length without breadth is like a self-contained tributary having no outward flow to the ocean. Stagnant, still and stale, it lacks both life and freshness. In order to live creatively and meaningfully, our self-concern must be wedded to other concerns.“