Where have you gone "Don Quixote", Our Nation turns it's lonely eyes to you...

Whether you read it or not, you’re likely familiar with the novel Don Quixote. I read Don Quixote in high school as required reading.

To be honest, I don’t remember de Cervantes’ prose as well as I recall the musical: Man of La Mancha. The lyrics may seem tired to some, but for me, they never fail to resonate: “To dream the impossible dream.”

“To right the un-rightable wrong.” “To try when your arms are too weary.” “To reach the unreachable star.” I can’t help but admire the person who insists on dreaming the impossible, reaching for the unreachable, trying even when overwhelmed.

It always bothered me that Don Quixote was portrayed as somewhat of a fool, somewhat insane, a tragic figure. I viewed his ability to hope amidst hopelessness to be not tragic at all, but heroic.

It seems true when friends or family say, “why vote when the election is rigged,” or “real change makers cannot fight the establishment,” or worst of all, “no matter who I vote for nothing will change.”

It’s hard to shut out the seductive voices of the insurmountable. They tell us, don’t reach for that unreachable star. Stars are for the young or na?ve.

Remember what you learned the hard way, you will fall short. Stay grounded in what is real, what is practical, what you already know and have. Make the best of it and let it be.

And that might seem wise, were it not for the flicker of our heart that is not yet weary nor cynical; that is aflame with passion and ideals.

There is that stubborn voice inside of us that simply cannot accept that things are immovable, inevitable, as good as they will ever be. That voice that asks, “don’t we all really want to be Don Quixote,” don’t we all want to believe that change is possible?

And we all want to so badly; even when the rest of the world assures us it cannot possibly be different; it cannot possibly be better; that we’ve been here before and we know how this story ends. “Let it be,” they say to us. But, we must commit to replying, “Let there be.”

Our nation needs it of us. This is a country whose foundational documents were based on the idea –let there be.” America’s earliest generations did the unthinkable, throwing off the yoke of a tyrant and dreaming into reality a nation and government of, by, and for the people.

Today we seem so far from a country grounded in a belief that the unrightable wrong can be made right. When did we lose that? When did we become overwhelmed by the insurmountable?

Our leaders and our elected representatives dare not be daring for fear of losing their constituencies and their jobs. Cynicism seems the fashion when it comes to our democracy as polling shows faith in the American system to be at all-time lows.

But there are embers of faith within each of us which have not yet been extinguished. Could we return to, “Let there be?” We all know, “Let it be,” is not working.

It hasn’t been working for some time. What might we do, what might we imagine, what might we act upon in order to make a more perfect union – in the truest sense of that phrase – more fair, more compassionate, less divisive?

Let me tell you about Irvin Westheimer. One day Westheimer saw a boy rummaging through trash cans searching for food. That image stirred his soul; he couldn’t let it be.

He entered the alley and introduced himself to the boy whose name was Tom. Irvin took Tom to get a proper meal and over lunch learned more about Tom’s life. Over time he developed a deep relationship with the boy and his family.

He even helped Tom’s mother find a better job.

Later that year Irvin helped organize the first chapter of what would become the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Organization by connecting colleagues with other youngsters in need of help and mentorship.

Did Irvin break the cycle of poverty? No. But the organization has changed the lives of countless thousands and mentoring remains one of the most effective ways to narrow the opportunity gap. His dream in 1903 changed for the better our reality in 2016.

 “In spite of all this…” still we dream. In spite of all this he said, “We must bring the unreachable star close to Earth and thereby reach it together.” That was the mission and challenge of his day. It remains ours.

Don Quixote’s anthem finishes: “…the world will be better for this, that one man scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable star.”

I suggest that phrase needed editing. Not one man alone striving.

Rather it must be all of us together. So let us be not dismayed or deterred. Together we can change the world...