Thorns, Horns and Bad Guys

The current flowering hysteria with riots, demonstrations and dragging down statues in our post-pandemic present day, are thorns  angrily speaking against past wrongs. This energy is a reaction large or small, permitted or not, in democratic countries. We are wiser and more intelligent, on the whole, thanks to education and laws being enacted for the benefit of mankind, ones that continue to be explored and updated. It's time, of course, that what was never right is pushed into being corrected. Like thorns that nature put there to protect the rose, for example, they had a purpose. If the rose didn't have thorns, its life as an edible plant may not have survived. If you were a rose gardener as I tried to be some time ago now, you knew that you didn't enter a rose garden without hand and arm protection. If not, surely you might come out bloody. Thornless roses are being developed. What is beauty in the red rose, a symbol of love, that isn't complete, however, without thorns. Love is not "thornless". Love's "thorns" somehow make it all the stronger for the test. This day, pulling down statues is an expression of wrongs done to some against others. Long ago, wrong doers were blinded by tradition and law and habit. Men and women leaders who were, at the time, convinced their causes were noble were rewarded with memorial statues. Today, we are enlightened in the realities of what actually happened and emotions well up, causing groups to perform in ways their deep angers guide them. One cannot judge others on their great passions one way or another, but I, personally, feel perhaps another method might be considered in their expression. If a statue of someone who was, in truth, bad, stands, would it not be more effective to erect next to it, witness of what really happened along with signage to dispute the old artist's rendering of a very serious mistake? In this way, the populace is educated to realize that a better and more honorable thing should have been done. If you can genetic-out the thorn from the elegant rose, without destroying its scent and petal arrangement, why not? Should all thorned roses be destroyed? There is a rose that is famous for its thorns: The Moss Rose as my grandmother called it. It is an old rose with a stem that is largely thorned. She who loved her garden, found it the rose with the most beautiful scent and multiflorous petals. Even the name is romantic. It is also one of my favorites, in spite of its very spiky existence. To wipe out the"spiky" or negative events in history is often to forget them. The holocaust for example, should never be forgotten. The great wars and their heroes, the same. Tragic world events can teach us what not to do and if we smooth over all of our earth's wrongs, they could disappear and where then is the lesson?  Will we, then make the wrongs all over again? These are thoughtful matters, in destroying memories even bad ones. It takes time to contemplate what should stay and what should go. Fury and destruction to fix wrongs, deny consideration of reflection in remembering what should be or not. Anger is  fast and furious but it can also be slow and positive if directed toward better purposes. Both ends, need to be understood and adjusted using the benefits of time and study. Impatience and impetuousness happen, but they are not always cures. One of the smart joys that I see as an elder who is  familiar with two sides of the coin, are streets and places that cities re-named with both old and new names showing. When I look at these structures, I see both the thorned and thornless. Learning is invited. History can't be destroyed but out of its ashes, enlightenment will rise.