One hundred years ago - almost to the year - he first set foot on The Island. Give me your tired ... the light from her torch reached out to him. Your poor ... he clutched his mandolin tighter; your huddled masses yearning to breathe. 

For millions before - with untold millions yet to come - an unobtrusive statue in the middle of America's busiest 20th Century harbor radiated her promise: Liberty Enlightening the World ... 

The freedom my father longed for. 

The Journey Then - and, Now

In the world of spirituality -

It's just as easy to lose your path as find it.

When America's Masses stepped into the 20th Century, the privileged expected control - entitlement. They lived the promise handed the elite throughout Western history: Adhere to our tradition. Conform to our values ... and we will let you assume power -

The Unexpected

When America's Nineteen-Forties Soldier came back from the greatest modern-day war the world survived ... he knew the dirty little secret.

As inexperienced youth, he drew inspiration from his fathers' promise: It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country.  So, volunteered his innocence ... idealism. Then created a bond stronger than fear.

As battle-scarred veterans, rage smoldered beneath the surface of his mind.

On the front-line ... endless days exposed to the elements. Too few rations; too much time in mundane repetition distorted reality. Instead of on the lookout for buried grenades, invisible ambushes - or killing before being killed - a soldier second-guessed his choice ...

Until -

In the heat-of-battle - going out there - meant careening into the wilderness inside of him -

Before smashing into the first enemy of his uncooked psyche - 

Dread.

It's then that promised adventure-for-glory ceased to be fun.

What he finds is raw ... facing his grandfather:

• Unforgiving 19th Century Victorian
• Manipulating power
• Follow the rules
• Obey demands
• The way to improve yourself? Fit in ...

What he finds ... facing his father:

• Do what you're told
• I'm in charge
• War?
• None of our business!
• Maintain the status quo ...

Until ... journalists broadcast battlefront-cruelty into homes:

Suddenly -

America's blood flowed through those veins an ocean away. Family - next-of-kin living in their country-of-origin - yearned to be free -

Stoking -

Ancestral-fires in their bellies: All dead are our dead!

Then -

Sent their sons to war.

Here ... he met his enemy:

Not a man lost in the fog-of-centuries. Not constricted by tradition. Not subservient to obedience. 

HE is the enemy.

Yes. All dead are our dead!

And -

All life is sacred ... his own AND the enemy's.

What he experiences feels like death.

Consciousness expands. Belief transforms. His father's conforming relinquished.

He collapses into helplessness.

Now he knows ...

His forefathers' domination kept the country - and industrialism - imprisoned in their worldview. Know your place in society. Don't challenge it - the mantra since time immemorial - is a self-serving lie. 

But - the Silent Code - forbids him to talk about it.

The Unintended-Consequence

Away from the battlefield, a World War II soldier talks a big game about killer instincts. Excitement of pushing back boundaries; doing what no one did before ...

Until -

He cradles a baby in his arms. 

It's then regret takes hold.

He thinks of the child denied that embrace - because his bullet snatched out a father's life too soon. Or, when he caresses his wife in the tender moments of the night - he remembers the one who lays alone, crying, because her man fell by his hand.

Inside that loving embrace, the taste of ecstasy denied others plummets into the sorrow of loss -

And -

He suffers.

The bitter-sweet joy - of unrequited love extinguished for a lie - rests heavy in a soldier's heart after the deed is done.

He struggles ...

To reconcile the monstrosities committed by the warrior in him. Muzzled by the Silent Code, he brings back a contracted heart to the comfort of home. To build a family; return to how life always was.

Stable. Predictable.

But -

The price of silencing the unspeakable is high.

He lives out what didn't dare be voiced. Some beat their wives in the stillness of the night. Others flew into uncontrollable rages when they least expected it themselves. Many shut out children - they treasured - from meaningful conversation ...

All because acting out the unbearable unspoken lie concealed the messy truth ...

While -

The hidden cost remained as silent as their dirty little secret.

The Barricade

America's Nineteen-Forties Offspring inherited their father's mandate:

Power comes to those who toe the line.

So -

Schoolchildren learned lessons parents taught:

• American history ... Respect it
• War for democracy ... Honor what the fight for freedom stands for
• The Constitution/Declaration of Independence ... Ideals our country strives to achieve

Two generations live in the same America. Enjoy the same culture; walk beside the same people. Each - bound by the Silent Code - ignore their country's flaws:

• Anyone different ... Scorned
• Anyone outside the mainstream ... Manipulated to doubt themselves 
• Anyone with aspirations/values/worth ... Suppressed 

Until -

America's Nineteen-Sixties Adolescent discovered battle-scarred fathers once fought in foreign lands:

• To preserve dignity 
• Protect citizens equally
• Inspire one another to bring out the best in themselves - and each other

Rights denied their own at home.

By the time their Nineteen Forty-Five/Sixty-Five Elephantine Generation exploded -

• America's conformity/willful authority ... Exposed
• Society ... Jammed
• Elders ... Overtaken

Confrontation congested the double-standard -

• Socialization ... Broke down 
• Complacency ... Eroded
• Settling for anything less than a freer - more equal - democratic country ... Refused 
• Individual choice ... Demanded 
• American values: tolerance, respect-for-others, service ... Reclaimed 

At the same time - 

A father's ideas - about how life should be lived - faltered under the sheer size of the children his generation propagated. Bewildered parents built the most sustained 20th Century prosperity in the world. Created never-before-experienced opportunities for their 50-million strong aberration ...

Yet -

Gave birth to an alien - hostile - culture.

They knew the world of contending Great Powers. Didn't grow up with television; at a loss what children did ... couldn't understand their needs - and ill-equipped to give it to them even if they did - 

Felt like Eskimo Grandparents cast out in the snow outliving their usefulness. 

The Breach

America was born challenging tradition ...

America was born encouraging personal freedom ...

America's Nineteen-Sixties Teenager reignited passion. Shared the vision of how the world was supposed to be.

And -

Like iron filings ...

Attracted - and held - a magnetic field among their own:

• Outmoded values ... Set aside 
• Outgrown beliefs ... Left behind
• Frontiers ... Conquered 
• New lives ... Forged 
• Hope for a better life ... Revived 

Like Pioneering Ancestors - thirsty for a fresh new start - Nineteen-Sixties Trailblazers refused hand-me-down orders. Then felt unmoored experiencing loss as their old-self dropped away.

Until -

Their cohort -

• Discovered ... Eastern philosophy
• Found ... A Hindu will tell you: Don't demonstrate consciousness by argument or reason. The only way is by diving into yourself.
• Experienced ... Personal transformation
• Integrated ... God as friend, spiritual advisor, a force to help lead ethical lives
• Welcomed ... Priests/rabbis/ministers to guide - not tell

Like-minded peers - spoke truth to power. Then relinked society:

• Attitude by attitude 
• Gesture by gesture 
• Kindness by kindness 

Regular people - leading regular lives - changed old assumptions.

But -

The culture-at-large ignored their struggle.

Taught to be seen not heard - older generations ...

• Clung ... To their Biblical God 
• Insisted ... Priests/rabbis/ministers translate the Holy word 
• Argued ... For a Being thundering from high above
• Believed ... Children pronounced the Divine dead
• Declared ... The riptide-of-the-Sixties a disaster

In the meantime -

Nineteen-Sixties Progeny relied on each other for answers parents were unable to help them with. Nudging each other along; one giving the other permission to explore the unexplored ...

While -

Learning to embrace that uneasy feeling: The person who's hand you're holding isn't your mother's.

The Invisible

Like flying under-the-radar in the dark of night -

No one saw a country - as large as the size of France - emerge where least expected:

• Your brother's living room
• Sister's backyard 
• Protestors protecting redwood trees
• Climbers scaling steep-sloped cliffs
• Astronauts circumnavigating the Earth 

No one noticed - a new consciousness embed every walk of life:

• Artists
• Scientists
• Pilots
• Geologists
• Sommeliers
• Designers
• Engineers
• Woodworkers
• Truck Drivers
• Investors
• Educators
• Electricians
• Agronomists
• Editors
• Physicians
• Photographers
• Pharmacists
• Journalists
• Farmers
• Urban Planners
• Every other field ...

No one understood - all were incognito:

• No roster
• No formal organization 
• No subscription to one set of beliefs 

An invisible culture sprouting across the United States attracted younger and older generations. Yearning for an authentic life. Transforming human consciousness.

Like seeds -

An outwardly scattered body. An inwardly linked community of the self-directed - with extraordinary inner-strength. Forging a link between personal experience and spiritual teachings; finding a connection between life and meaning -

Trusting -

A planted seed may be small. Its promise exponential ...

Hidden in plain sight.

The (Spiritual) Journey - Today

You didn't sprout up from nowhere.

You've been growing for a long time ... from seeds cultivated over two generations - sprouting in soil prepared throughout millennia. 

Whispering -

As you swivel in your chair. Do a double-take between the date-of-birth on the form you're filling out - and applicant sitting in front of you.

You look at the age on the application again. No prescriptions. No medical problems. Then back to the applicant: "You look great!"

You swivel ...

I wanna' be like you!

This One Less-Traveled Road Isn't Finished Yet ...

Simple. Direct.

The boundary of language defies what can be said.

Wisdom learned long ago - by The Elder sitting in front of you ...

Forging a trail ahead.

Watching ...

How what was once called the world ... transform into our world. 

How a continent - once settling disputes with never-ending wars lasting centuries ... transformed into a force-for-peace. How humanity - once turning a blind-eye to the underserved ... transformed into extending a helping-hand with respect instead. 

Watching ...

You reach out to dissolve the distance between you two. 

Satisfied -

Seeds planted so long ago took hold - to create you! 

You're Not Finished Either!

I think about you sometimes ...

Discovering the unknown world of your inner-most terrain. Defying roadblocks you can't avoid. Transmuting moment-by-moment doubt I never hear about. 

I think about my father ...

Following the longing in his soul. Willing to abandon the customs he once expected to live by. Surrendering to the unknown in an unknown land.

I think about that mandolin ...

Running his hand across strings never plucked again. And marvel ... all he needed was the whisper inside its silence: You have everything you need.