I’m feeling a little whimsical today, which belies the seriousness of my entry. But it’s true, I am 100% full of whimsyness. See? I just made a new word, whimsyness. My W0rd spell-checker has underlined it as an incorrect spelling, and yet I ignore it in favor of the desire to describe the way I am feeling. It’s nice to be able to wander out to the store and get things done, and laugh and joke with the boys, while around me the world is hubbubbing with financial worries and talk of politics. There are days when I stand and thump the pulpit, and others where I lecture and discuss, as if I am a professor of philosophy at some Ivy League University. Which I think would be a dream job for me… Not necessarily the Ivy League part, but certainly the professor part. Teaching I think, is possibly my calling. It gives the idea of study and research then discussion about the findings. If you’ve watched the new Fox show “Fringe”, I imagine myself as the character Dr. Walter Bishop portrayed by the amazingly talented John Noble and investigating anything I find intriguing. Purely based on whimsy.

I digress however. Today’s entry is about the end of ism’s. I look forward to that time. The end of ism’s. Well most ism’s anyway. Ism’s like racism and sexism. When mankind will point to each other and say “That person over there,” and point at nearly anyone. The day when no one’s speech will be hampered by thoughts of “Is this person saying something disgusting about me based on my race or religion or sex”. Days when I will not have to worry that the words coming out of my mouth might accidentally offend someone nearby. When I can say, “Boy! You have no idea what you are doing there,” to my son and not worry that the person of African descent near him is going to wonder if I am denigrating him or her in some fashion. When no matter what comes out of my mouth, someone won’t be offended by what I have to say. Unless of course I am being purposefully offensive, that’s completely different. I look forward to the days when people are chosen simply based on merit. When people reach out a hand and no matter who grabs it, they know it’s done in friendship and peace. Days when the choice of religion doesn’t automatically make you suspect for treason or deviant behavior. Days when people don’t have to live in fear. Days when people don’t mourn because ignorance has claimed the innocence of their children. Days when people don’t have to worry that the honking, followed by shouting outside their home is going to be violence committed against them by men with white sheets and hoods.

You may be thinking that it’s on the horizon. And in some matters that is correct. But, in others that is so not the case. My sons came home recently complaining about the elementary kids at their High School. And when I inquired as to what they meant (thinking there was some sort of field trip visiting their school or some such thing) I was informed that an elementary school nearby had been vandalized. Windows broken, classrooms burned, and swastikas painted all over the school, and that the K-5 kids would be attending their school until repairs could be made to the building. Days when this will be a thing of the past, and not a regular occurrence.

I look forward to, yearn for, the days when ignorance has been eradicated.