let's go forward together
Thos.P.Jackstraw  Updated: 2004-07-05 09:30

Pouring rain and powerful winds cause me to find shelter under a roof, and gives me a moment to reflect on the changes in this little town in the span of just one year; the town center is so nicely laid out, new trees have been planted everywhere, the street is so clean, the local folks had all come out to play and be with each other, their pride cannot hide itself.

A hundred hammers have toiled every day, and late into the night, the squeeking of the construction crane and the transformation of things continues to move with the steady and constant pace of a China well on its way. Just this morning I rise and am up before the work continues, the train's whistle greets me and the locals just begin their routine, I hesitate to come here and miss this morning's greeting.

We have so many things to talk of and so many things to think of: Japan and the US, Iraq and the world's insurgents, of finance and re-order, of discontent and demonstrations, of tomorrow and our hopes and visions.

I have tried not to get involved in spats and misunderstandings among so many of you all, my friends. So often we don't agree, and so often we do not see things in quite the same way; still you all make me think and reflect and ponder. Together we are looking to find a better way, we share our ideas and perspectives in this struggle to gain an understanding. I look forward to your greetings and wait ot hear of your latest, of flowers and hopes, dreams and desires, of children and friends.

I surely hope we can let things the personal insults and troubled misunderstandings from among us, fall away in our past, forgotten in this moment and the next as we all go forward together; our lives and our hearts bind us to this, our China.

We have work to do together, as we seek to learn and understand and share, so much we have in common. I do not seek to shield any of you, my friends, I am confident in your strengths. I am only asking we work together on the things that are so important, the threats without and within, the struggle to be heard and understood.

So many times, so many of you have come to my side and offered your hand, and sometimes I stumble, and there you are to help me; you've taken my side in trouble, you have been there when you were needed. I cannot choose any of you, one over the other; you are all gifts to me, and I really am just your slow and sometimes stupid student. I cannot say which of you has taught me more. Some days I find myself learning something different, but it was from something you had said before, recorded in this forum like old dishiveled and frumpled schoolday's notes. Let us forget our misunderstandings and the things we should not have said, let's go forward, again, together.

The above content represents the view of the author only.

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