The Voice Of The Silent Majority: A Moment With Bill Reflection

“Whenever anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of H.O.W. (Humanity One World) to always be there, and for that, I am responsible.”

I believe in the goodness of my fellow man and woman. Despite the horrors that I have seen and despite the continued reminders of the existence of a dark side, I believe in the goodness that is in all of us. Call me a fool. Call me a doddering old codger who has lost his grasp on reality. What you cannot call me, however, is a hypocrite.

I am not one to talk the talk and then take a detour when the going gets rough. I was not raised that way and quite frankly, most of you were not raised that way either. We were raised to value commitment. We were raised with a certain set of principles that are timeless and will never go out of style. Principles like compassion and empathy, honor and honesty, those are steadfast foundations if one is to live a life of value.

Those of us who believe in those principles and who live by them are, for lack of a better term, the silent majority. We go about our daily lives without fanfare. We help others when needed and we do so with humility and no need for thanks. Our actions are drowned out by the headline grabbers of the day, the shootings, the name-calling and the outrageous atrocities that have become so common place.

Because we do not trumpet our lives we go unnoticed by the news agencies. Let’s face it….nice does not sell papers. That is a fact of life and it will always be true, but that does not diminish the importance of these silent crusaders. Imagine, for a moment, a world without them. Where would we be as a society if the millions upon millions of do-gooders were not doing their collective thing, quietly making a difference by their daily actions?

Who are these people who comprise the silent majority?

They are the shopkeeper in St. Louis who does not over-charge and who offers a smile and a kind word to every customer he sees. They are the housewife in Minneapolis who always has extra treats for the neighborhood children. They are the social worker in Buffalo who lives and breathes her job and they are the Peace Corps volunteer doing her two-year stint in Kenya.

They are the loving single mother in Eugene who demands that her children grow up respecting others. They are the farmer in Cedar Rapids who always has enough crops for the Food Bank and they are the millworker in Virginia Beach who volunteers his spare time to the local library.

They are millions strong in the United States and growing rapidly. They believe that change is possible but it must start with each individual. They have lost faith in the political system but gained faith in the community system. They are the social activists who refuse to settle for the status quo and they are the aging rebels who demand to know why more isn’t being done to help others.

They span the entire societal spectrum, from black to white, yellow to brown, male, female and in-between. They live in single-wide trailers and they live in 6,000 square foot homes, and they understand that their family tree is the same tree shared by seven billion people worldwide.

Together they are the membership of H.O.W. They may not know they are members but they have paid their dues in full and their membership cards are in the proverbial mail.

They believe that change must begin with individuals. They believe that drastic alterations to society are possible but they will only happen if every single one of us gets off our lazy butts and does something positive.

They believe in one race and class, namely humanity. They have seen the fallacy of nationalism and they believe now that our salvation is dependent upon all of us working together for a common good.

They believe that, as a society, we are only as healthy as our sickest member, and if we do not reach out for those who are down and out, we will all experience that fate in the future.

They believe that our problems cannot be solved by more taxes, less taxes, or any other political agenda being brandished about in Congress, and they believe that until we start acting like the brothers and sisters that we are, we are doomed to fail.

Finally, they believe that there is surely hope, but hope without action is meaningless.

Wait just a minute! Not so fast my friends! There are certain qualifications you must meet in order to belong to H.O.W.

What are those qualifications you ask? Well, first and foremost, love must be the most important thing in your life. This is a deal-breaker and if you can’t check that on the list you need to move on and don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. We are never going to turn things around in this world without love. Period!

If you can agree with that then we can move on. You must be willing to show compassion to your fellow citizens of the world. You must be willing to look beyond geographical boundaries and you must be willing to look beyond political rhetoric. There are no political parties in H.O.W. This is a movement based solely on the size of your heart and not the size of your treasure chest.

Understand that we carry no one. There are no free rides on this movement. You give and you take here at H.O.W., and kismet is alive and well. What goes around comes around and each member is guaranteed feelings of good will when participating in our movement.

If you care about your fellow citizens of the world then sign on the dotted line. If you believe that a small group of determined people can change the world then sign on.

A warning to all: this is not a decision that should be entered into lightly. You will be called upon to act in accordance with our mission statement each and every day of your life. There are no days off for good behavior and you do not have the luxury of calling in sick. You see, this is a commitment, one that should be entered into with the utmost sincerity. This is a commitment to help make this world a better place.

Are you made of the right stuff? Do you have what it takes to overcome the divisions and differences in today’s world and work towards our commonalities?

We hope so. Humanity needs people just like you.

Humanity One World…..the dream continues!

2013 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)