I see it more and more each day.  Arguments that turn brutal and threatening on Face Book.  Tweets with intentional, harmful comments destroying the constitution of an individual in 140 characters or less.  The news is filled with hate crimes.  We are at war with ourselves and everyone in our path.  We are judge and jury crushing a relatively harmless opinion and turning it into a massacre of the human soul.  Guilty until proven more guilty.  How do we sleep at night with the weight of deception on our shoulders and the taste of blood on our tongues, we are drowning in our own desire to make worse all that is evil in our path.

Sounds heavy doesn’t it?  A little too heavy?  Maybe.  But aren’t we living heavier these days?  Our lives are taken so seriously that a minor indiscretion or slip of the tongue spirals so out of control that we are sorry for opening our mouths, our eyes, our hearts.  Are we so far passed the point of no return in our guilt ridden lives that even the smallest drop of joy we experience is perceived as a fluke, an anomaly?

The pressure of a life.  Perfect child, perfect spouse, perfect parent, perfect employee, perfect friend.  Don’t make a mistake.  We compare and are compared to by others.  My way or the highway, because my way is best.  You love too much, your love is not enough.

The pressure of day.  We wake every morning and it’s judgement day all over again.  You should have, you could have, why didn’t you, why wouldn’t you?  We impose our beliefs on others, standing on the proverbial soap box, preaching to the non-believers.  You can change.  You will change.  You should be more like me.  That would make you perfect, like me.

I won’t sit here and tell you that you’re inadequate, that your beliefs are wrong.  I’ll sit behind my computer and gripe my way through this post, making sure to let you know that the judgment is yours and yours alone.  But before I relinquish all of my acceptance to your morals and ideals, I will remind you that we are all God’s children.  We are all guilty of looking the other way, and not getting involved.  Luckily we are free to decide who and when we contribute to the health and welfare of another human being.

We have National days in this country where we honor many different people.  Many of them are people who came before us, changing the world for the better.  Does all  that seem like just an antiquated tradition?  How many people in the world today could be honored for their humanitarian efforts?  How many would have the responsibility and commitment to society with the credibility required to receive the devoted recognition of our country’s citizens?  I can think of very few, and I’m sure that even those elite specimens would have a few skeletons in their closet of sin.

Can we have a day of non-judgment?  Can we refuse to log in to our facebook comments page and twitter feed?  Can we put down the cell phones and turn off the tv?  How about a national day sparing the children of abuse?  A day devoted to the children of the country, allowing them to sleep soundly knowing they won’t be beaten or molested?  While we’re at it, let’s have a day of exercise.  All business will be closed and you are required to do SOMETHING to work up a sweat.  The list of ideas goes on.  If we can’t find a person good enough to memorialize, why don’t we find a reason to stop the judgment, stop the pain, stop the insanity that consumes our daily lives?  If just for a day, a day’s a good start.

And for today, I wish you freedom and a walk on the lighter life.