The view from Gabby’s
seat:
A few years back I visited my daughter in Washington, D.C.
and she gave me a glimpse into the Capitol, the Senate, the House of
Representatives and the Supreme Court Chamber. All were fascinating places to
visit, each location oozing with implied influence.
Two nights earlier, President Obama had delivered his State
of the Union address that mentioned Arizona Representative Gabriella Giffords’ recovery
from an egregious attack of gun violence. Ms. Giffords struggled to stand and speak,
but sat heroically and defiant against this uninvited intrusion into her life.
That day, as I walked around the empty House Floor and
surveyed this powerful landscape, I imagined where all the power players sat a
few nights earlier, but there was one seat in particular that I wanted to see.
It was Gabby’s.
I wanted to try to sense her character and vicariously
consider her point of view. Sitting in
her seat, I felt empowered—even more so as I imagined the Joint Chiefs of Staff
and the Supreme Court Justices seated in the next few rows.
The next day I walked along the National Mall and
photographed the monuments-- but I did so with an questioning eye, confident
that I had set my belief about gun control to a fixed point in the sands of
controversy. Any counter-thought toward
gun control would certainly ricochet from this hallowed seat of Ms. Gifford’s,
and fall harmless to the metaphoric ground.
That night, I walked the distance between the Lincoln
Memorial and the Washington Monument thinking about many things, gun control
was one of them. I began to consider that it was actually the process of the
policy that bothered me most.
The next day I ventured back into the Capitol and
photographed in Statuary Hall beneath the towering Rotunda. The marble statues
seem to whisper their silent words of wisdom, tempered in both rebellion and allegiance.
I tried to listen—but this revolutionary message of reclamation and defense was
hard to hear. There was just too much chatter.
About that time, my daughter wanted to show me an odd
feature of the rotunda. Apparently, because of the architectural design, you
can stand at one end of this large room—speak normally, and be heard clearly on
the opposite side of the room. A convenient form of espionage that could exploit
the uninitiated… In this place, even whispers resonate—as long as you are aware,
attentive and aligned.
Perhaps this metaphor is worthy of more than a simple
anecdote. Maybe it’s the small voices of conscience that cut through the
clutter that provide the greatest clarity. A message that transcends the marble
renditions of our forefathers and delivers its tempered advice directly to the
ears of the living. Are we truly defending our 2nd amendment right
to arm ourselves against an unruly militia, or are we simply exercising our
right to sovereign and independent expression? Are we more concerned with Amendments than
Commandments—and if so, why and is that even an issue? Tolerance is a virtue,
understanding is an obligation and there is wisdom in diversity. The pursuit of
Life, Liberty and Happiness—what does that even mean?
btw- I think it's ironic (or at the very least, entertaining) if you google my blog name, then this is what appears:
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