Tom saying goodby to his
mother in “Grapes of Wrath”
This morning some thoughts were going thru my mind of how my soul is deep down within me surrounded with a lot of crud. I can pick away at it and get some slimmer of light shining through. But to really get at it I would need to fire off the crud with fasting and praying. It would hurt.
There has been a quote working around in my brain the last week or so. It is from the book and movie “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. At the end of the book Tom is saying goodbye to his mom since he needs to be on the run for fighting for justice. He says:
“A fella ain’t got a soul of his own, just a little piece of a big soul - the one big soul that belongs to ever’body. Then…then, it don’t matter. I’ll be all around in the dark. I’ll be ever’-where - wherever you can look. Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad - I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise, and livin’ in the houses they build - I’ll be there, too.”
I think this quote and thought has crossed my mind since a few people have questioned my integrity and passionate persistence for peace and justice. A few say I am ‘arrogant’, self-centered and just want to be controversial. I have thought about this and there might be some partial truth to these labels. But I know that deep down I need to be true to myself or soul and my being and mt soul is tied in some way to other human beings. We are all brothers and sisters with Jesus and God is our father and mother. So it is to my self-interest to struggle and be present whenever there is an injustice, “Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy” or whatever a Pakistani child is injured or killed by an American drone.
Some would say that even this posting was ‘arrogant’ and ‘prideful’. Maybe it is, but I have no other choice.
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