“Those living at a particular time are never simply the denizens of history or the pawns of time, they are also the only possible recipients of the messages of eternity trying to slip into the world …. we are each already an old soul capable of living meaningfully and, at times, able to lend a hand to creation.”
Michael Meade, Why the World Doesn’t End
Happy Veterans Day to the Veteran staff, facilitators, volunteers, and participants who lend their talents and skills to co-create this community, where people of all backgrounds come together to make meaning.
You might know that Veterans Day began as Armistice Day in 1919, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I. It took almost twenty years for it to become a federal holiday, originally designated to recognize the service and sacrifices of WWI Veterans, and another twenty to become what we know as Veterans Day, honoring all Veterans.
Maybe you don’t know that between the end of the war and the honoring of its Veterans, some 20,000 WWI Veterans marched on Washington with their families and supporters, demanding payment on bonuses promised to them. They camped in the capital until they were evicted by force: tear gas, tanks, and a troop of saber-wielding cavalry. They must have felt like the world was ending.
It took many years (and political maneuvering and congress overturning a presidential veto) before they received their bonuses. It paved the way for other Veterans programs. The arc of time, of suffering, of justice, of coalition building is longer than we think it is, longer than we wish it were.
We are living at a particular time, and we are being called to listen to the messages and needs of this time. Nothing good comes easily, and no successful struggle includes only the people affected. The right to vote for Black Americans and women, the GI Bill, the Americans with Disabilities Act–all came as a result of both struggle and strategizing, by people who committed to lending their talents whether they were personally impacted or not.
Ours is a community of difference. I don’t know a more diverse community anywhere–in demographics, in thought, in service, in socio-economics. As members of this community, we are uniquely positioned to genuinely understand people whose life histories are different from our own. To set aside what we hate, and angle our efforts towards creating a better world for the expanding circle of who we love.
I don’t know how you’re feeling, or what you wish for. I don’t know what you and your family have sacrificed for this country, have sacrificed to be in this country. I can’t guess. I don’t know who you love or what you love. But whoever you are, whoever you voted for, I am certain that you love. So let us start there. Set aside what you hate. What do you love?
With respect and admiration and yes, love,
Seema Reza
Seema Reza is a poet and essayist and the author of two books: A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Writing and Community Building from Goddard College. In 2010 Seema began working with service members, veterans, and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and has since developed a unique multi-hospital arts program that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care and socialization. In 2015, the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore awarded Seema the Col John Gioia Patriot Award for her work with service members in military hospitals. Seema is a 2019 George W. Bush Institute Stand-To Veteran Leadership Scholar.