"I am offering this poem to you, since I have nothing else to give." ~Jimmy Santiago Baca
“I don’t know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can’t turn back. It isn’t to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want–I don’t rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.” ~Samwise “Sam” Gamgee
~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring ~
When God chose your kind as the object of His love, I was the first in all of heaven to bow down before you. My love, my hope for mankind was no less than His. But I have watched you trample that gift. I have watched you kill each other over race and greed … waging war over dust and rubble and the words in old books. And yet, in the midst of all this darkness, I see some people who will not be bowed. I see some people who will not give up, even when they know all hope is lost. Some people, who realize being lost is so close to being found. I see you … you are the reason I still have faith.
~ From Archangel Michael’s character in the 2009 movie Legion
First is the distinction between reaction and response. Reaction is dominated by the other person. He insults you: you get angry, and then you act out of anger. This is reaction. You are not an independent person; anybody can pull you this way or that way. You are easily affected; you can be blackmailed emotionally. Reaction is an emotional blackmail. You were not angry. The man insulted you, and his insult created anger; now out of anger comes your action.
Response is out of freedom. It is not dependent on the other person. The other person may insult you, but you don’t become angry; on the contrary you meditate on the fact – why is he insulting you? Perhaps he is right. Then you have to be grateful to him, not get angry.
Perhaps he is wrong. If he is wrong, then for his wrong why should you burn your heart with anger?
Clear blue sky, palm trees, offshore breeze, nice sunset. Well-dressed black boys on my street selling drugs. Last night I was getting out of the car and one of them came up to me and asked, “Lookin’?”
I pointed to the apartment where I lived and said, “No, living.”
He smiled and said, “I heard that.”
Henry Rollins, The Portable Henry Rollins
Words ... for the Time Being 