Recently, on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert Kennedy, a reader reminded Matt of the following quote from RFK:
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
– Robert F. Kennedy
The reader remarked that the quote was reminiscent of Matt’s own feelings about world peace, and concluded by asking Matt if he remembered where he was when RFK was killed.
Matt responds:
I sure do, and I also remember where I was when his brother John F. Kennedy was killed. For John Kennedy, I was in a mall, and people were gathering around a television at a television store. With Robert Kennedy, I had just come into the funeral home and I was with bereaved families, so there weren’t any radio or televisions on, so as I walked in the door, one of the men I worked with told me the news, and I just couldn’t believe that lightning had struck twice. It was like getting hit over the head with a 2 by 4.
It is such a shame that people with a vision for peace, tolerance, and love seem to be marked as targets by negative forces that don’t want to see people get along. As I’ve always said, peace is a dangerous place to be. There’s no money and no power in peace; therefore, it is shunned by and threatening to some people who use the lack of peace to manipulate the world scene. It seems to me that during the course of those 40 short years since RFK was shot, we have come further in our acceptance of the peaceful message, such that we won’t have to live through those turbulent years again. That may be wishful thinking, but the people who are martyrs of peace really are held up as great examples and lasting memories in the minds of the people of the world.
When we look at the great peacemakers of history, whether they be Christians, Muslims, Jews, or nonbelievers, they are all revered. It’s too bad that they were killed, because their lives could have made even more of a difference on this earth if they had continued to live and do their work. I think that the only thing we can do individually is become more cognizant of our place in the world as peacemakers and to manifest the dream of peace. We can’t all manifest it to the degree that Martin Luther King, Jr., or the Kennedys or Gandi did, but we can, within our own little spheres, create a more peaceful atmosphere. That’s what my vision is: If a billion people create a billion little spheres of peace, then the world is a much better place.
The great peacemakers of the past have shown us the way. And even though they were removed from our scene, their spirit and their way are still here. Our job is to pick up the broken pieces and keep moving with them.
Thanks for your question—and we’ll all keep marching on.
Matt