"What binds us together across our differences in religion or politics or economic theory is that when each one of us is cut, our blood flows red. Mine does and yours does too. Those who would try to appropriate God or family or country for their own narrow ends, who believe that religious faith is the property of one particular ideology, forget the width of God's embrace, the healing power of a family's arms, and the generosity of this country's vision. God, family, and nation belong to us all.
And they belong to us because of all that we share as human beings - the wonder that we experience when we look at the night sky; the gratitude that we know when we feel the heat of the sun; the sense of humor in the face of the unbearable and the persistence of suffering. And one more thing: the capacity to reach across our differences to offer a hand of healing....
I wish that life were simpler. I wish that loved ones didn't have to die young. I wish that tragedy never haunted a single soul. But to wish all this is to ask for an end to our humanity. God, family, and country sustains us all.
Legend has it that in the ancient world, a poetry contest was held each year. The third-place winner received a rose made out of silver. The second-place winner received a rose made out of gold. But the first place winner received a real rose, a beautiful living rose that soon wilted, dried up, and died. I ask you, is there a single one among us who would not choose the living rose?"
--from Edward M. Kennedy's "True Compass"
Regardless of what you may think or feel about the very public lives of the Kennedy family, some of its very private members bestowed these United States of America with some of our greatest legacies - the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Special Olympics, the Peace Corps, and the push to get the first person on the moon. As politicians and philanthropists, the Kennedy family was, and still is, renown for launching successful campaigns against organized crime and school segregation, while working tirelessly on behalf of America's dispossesed and its powerless.
Born into a life of luxurious comfort and high class, the nine Kennedy siblings were raised on the ideal that looking out for one's neighbors was not just good public policy, it was a human necessity. Consistently reminded to not flaunt their wealth, the Kennedy kids were continually brought back down to planet Earth whenever the patriarch of their family, Joseph, felt that one of his four boys or five girls was getting a little too big for his or her britches. Although rich and relatively famous, the Kennedy family, who were a tight knit group of Irish Americans, also had first-hand experience with the ugly face of persecution and intolerance. As an Irish Catholic, Jack Kennedy never quite fit in at Harvard. His ascendancy as the 35th President of the United States broke through one glass ceiling - as he was the first Roman Catholic ever elected.
Contrary to what the media would have you believe, the Kennedy family was not simply beloved for its iconic fashion statements, attractive genes, and deep pockets. We loved the Kennedys because, for almost a century, this very American, royal family fought hard to: protect the rights of the average, American worker; provide a better education to all American school children; and seek health care coverage for every single citizen in this nation. The Kennedy's were true patriots who believed in this country's initial, founding principles of democracy - in honoring the minority and its voice; in looking out for its blue collared employees; in providing a hand up to those in need; and in remembering that the greatest sacrifice we can make is ourselves for one another.
As Camelot comes to a close with the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, I wonder:
"Who, in this era to come, will rise up and speak for the disenfranchised, for the poor, for the trees, for this planet, and for us?" For, we are now entering an epoch in which it is no longer our civil rights that are at stake. It is now our humanity that is in grave danger.
"Will you?"
