My Truth: Pay the piper

By Cheryl Smith

I’m thankful for so much. Yes I wake up in relatively great health with an unsound mind, because can anyone really have a “sound” mind in a world with so much chaos, confusion and downright evilness?

Did you ever imagine that you would live in a society where mass shootings are met with silence from entities that are benefitting significantly from the sale of guns and ammunition?

Can you explain away a mentality that makes it okay to brutalize certain segments of the population without fear of consequence or any repercussion?

Why are there empty buildings yet millions live on the streets?

Why are foods being manufactured with chemicals that have a devastating effect on our quality of life?

Why are drugs being manufactured that while supposedly curing one ailment, cause so many others?

I could go on, ad nauseum, but hopefully you get why my mind is “unsound.”

Somebody has to take responsibility for the hellacious times that we are experiencing. Are you the victim or the perpetrator? Who is going to take the blame? Who will try to make things better or right?

This brings me to my truth.

There’s no time for excuses, long, drawn-out explanations or passing the buck. If I woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn’t mean darn thing to the victim.

Acknowledgement. Responsibility. Accountability. Atonement. Commitment. Respite.

We have to acknowledge that we have issues with gun violence, police misconduct, homelessness, mass production of “food,” unethical use of chemicals in the manufacturing of drugs and more.

Responsible parties must be called out and held accountable.

Then the real work begins. Atonement for previous actions comes in the form of righting wrongs. All inappropriate behavior, actions must end immediately and efforts undertaken to insure there aren’t reoccurrences and there must also be a commitment to doing better in the future.

And finally, those who were hurt, injured or victimized should be provided with some form of respite; possibly in the form of restitution or reparations and when possible, from the actual perpetrator.

In the final analyses, someone has to pay the piper, whether it’s the actual benefactor or their beneficiaries. To think that no one must pay for the devastation is absurd.

Just as it is my prayer that there will be a better world for my descendants; I also pray that some of the madness that we are responsible for today will not end up destroying the world entirely!