November 15, 2017, Prescott-
A fellow blogger posted, this afternoon, that no one is entitled to rights, by decree. Yes, and no: Yes, a child has the right to a healthy diet, a safe and warm place to live, a solid, fundamental education and above all, loving adults by whom to be raised. No, one does not have the automatic right to a mate, a good paying job, a full refrigerator and pantry or a large contingent of friends. Those are things one earns by dint of character and hard work.
I was raised to know that my parents were there for me, that I had responsibilities that went with being part of a family, that boys and girls were equal in the sight of God, and that didn’t go away when we reached adulthood. As much as my immature, flawed self disliked it, I had to wait, a long time, to meet the love of my life. My mature, flawed self does not regret the wait.
Sometimes, the price of the good in our lives is paid up front- through suffering and seemingly innumerable setbacks Other times, the good comes first, and, as with the Biblical Job, torments and sorrows follow. I have learned, especially from my Native American ancestors, that hard times make one stronger and good times make one secure enough to withstand the next set of hard times. After 600-800 years of collective difficulty, Native Americans are still here. After 500 years of oppression and distrust, African-Americans are still here. Woman, collectively, has endured millennia of being regarded as a subordinate being. She is more present than ever.
Those who say each individual must earn certain rights and prerogatives are correct, to a point. Let them also, however, consider what rights each man, woman and child has already earned, by dint of character, suffering and, yes, hard work. To dismiss this, is to affirm the claim of the tyrant, the supremacist.
A Sagittarian Seeker 