Penchant for Penning: Fall of Roman Empire

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Wordplay Wednesday™ June 14, 2017 – Unitive

United We Stand … Divided We Fail … um, Fall

Our country’s founders wisely and wholeheartedly believed “united we stand, divided we fall.” Hence “The United States.” Though they certainly had their differences of opinion, they knew that together they could accomplish more, than each alone.

Never more poignant than today, after a shooting attack on Republican Congressional leaders and their aides. Did you listen to the sentiments of both sides of the Congressional aisle as they addressed the aftermath?

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R.) said, “We are united in our shock, we are united in our anguish. …. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.” House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D.) said the shooting “is an injury in the family”; adding, “we will use this occasion as one that brings us together, not separates us further.”

UNITIVE (yōōʹnɘ tiv) adj. – 1) having or characterized by unity; 2) tending to unite. [WW #116]

For far too long our Congressional parties have been divided not only in seating arrangements and viewpoints, but in their forgotten oaths to their constituents to work in a unitive manner for the common good.

We should be a UNITED country. But we are not … because ANY leader, be they president, congressperson, mayor, or manager of a ball team … needs to lead by example. Congress’s example, especially for the past fifty years, has been anything but unitive.

Now, if the alienated body that is Congress, which is supposed to be working for ALL of us, will take Ryan and Pelosi’s words to heart and move forward TOGETHER for the good of our country, today’s events will hold unitive meaning for an otherwise senseless act.

And it is OUR duty, as citizens of this UNITED States, to accept our leaders’ actions, or take LAWFUL means to remove, revise, or terminate them. That is unitive democracy.

Let peace and unity reign this coming Independence Day … and beyond.

Word Challenge: UNITIVE. Though we are individuals of diversity, we MUST work in unitive steps for The United States, or our reign will end as surely as that of the Western Roman Empire. Think of related parts as a whole, as you fit unitive into this week’s reflective writings.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle)

'Til next time ... enjoy a wonderful "wordful" week …

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

Facebook

# # #

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Wordplay Wednesday™ May 3, 2017 – Indurate

(Day late and a dollar short … traveling does that to you.)

Avoid this Like the Plague …

In the 1960s and ‘70s, we were idealistic in our rose-colored glasses with heart. Forty years later, there is still hope and idealism, but it is encased in a superficial crust. We have become …

INDURATE (inʹdōo rātʹ) vt. – 1) to make hard; harden; 2) to make callous, unfeeling, or stubborn; 3) to cause to be firmly established; vi. – to become indurated; adj. – hardened. [WW #110]

We have become a society of indurated people, who continue to indurate our offspring, perpetuating intolerance, violence, and debauchery.

Cynical attitude? As much as I am a perpetual optimist, I’m indurated in my own way—hardened against the people of the world who find it necessary or pleasurable to prey on others.

As long as the majority rules with indurated, heavy-handed insolence, atrocities will continue and we will proceed on a path to self-destruction.

Ready for Mars? (NASA / JPL / USGS)

Stephen Hawking is likely right—we should leave Earth within the next 100 years, to survive. Not just due to overpopulation and destruction of Earth, but as the Roman Empire demonstrated, “Following the death of Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule a united Roman Empire, the dominion of the empire was gradually eroded by abuses of power, civil wars, barbarian migrations and invasions, military reforms and economic depression.” Sound familiar?

Our current actions reveal, if the attitudes of leaders don’t transform to a STRONG regard for basic moral and political right and wrong, without hobbling our individual rights, we will continue to create debased, indurated societies.

Word Challenge: INDURATE. Consider how we might reverse our unfeeling, callous and corrupt society, as you fit indurate into your week of hopeful writings.