Eric

I was in Jamaica at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. I had just finished eating and walked to the water's edge to look out over Montego Bay. A black man named Eric (all my angels are black men, I think) was sitting off to the side and, out of the blue, he says, "Some people only see what is on the surface of the water, but you see what is underneath."

He went on to give me a "reading" about things currently happening in my life. Even with all my training, it was still unnerving and I thanked him and milled around for awhile but eventually moved on to the bar across the street. It was way too much of a tourist trap and I started to leave but noticed that there was a balcony that provided an even higher view of Montego Bay.

As I walked out on it there was Eric standing in the corner watching the bay. I walked over and said, "Hey, it's you again."

He said, "Of course, and you came here to find me because you needed to hear the rest of the story." He went on to say, "My friend, you have important work to do. My country has lost her heart, and your country has lost her purpose. You must reach everyone you can with your writing to help her find her purpose once again."

I can't say that I have yet, or ever could fulfill that quest. When I returned home I ordered two books written long ago with titles similar to "America's Purpose." I looked into my own family's background and that of my Scottish nationality.

I realized that this country was NOT founded on the principal of every man for himself, but rather that all should contribute to the best of their ability and those who were less fortunate need to be cared for until they, too, can contribute. This was called "clachan" in the Scottish world and this and many other precepts of that nationality have become the patterns for our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and our "normal" society.

However, every once in awhile, the country starts to swing back to a neolithic, club-carrying society, as evidenced by the Tucson shootings. Then we need to work extra hard to remind all of the greater purpose - that we are our brother's (or sister's) keeper, that we need to comfort the afflicted and heal the sick, and we need to speak truth to power.

My class chose world peace as our goal. And so I do what I can in the face of a seemingly increasing ignorance of purpose. May the God of our understanding bless us all.