Alice In The Garden - an original acrylic painting
12" X 16", unframed - 17" X 21", framed
( click on image to enlarge )
How often do we remember the definition of the word kindergarten? Do we think
enough about the truth of that idea, that all children are similar to tender, young plants
in the gardens we create for them, in which they can learn and grow, and that we, the
adults, are the gardeners. who may not always give them what they need to grow up well?
There is an old saying which cautions parents against dishonest and distorted lessons
in human behavior: "As the twig is bent, so grows the tree." We were all innocent
children in our parent's gardens at one time, and our parents passed on the lessons
they received from their parents, often without considering whether or not what they
were saying was true. Innocence is often lost at a very tender age.
The saddest thing about telling little children lies, is that they accept everything adults
say as the truth. And so we often grow up burdened with a heritage of distorted thinking
and ugly prejudices. What about our little girl Alice, for example? What is she thinking
about, in her innocent garden? Did she perhaps just recently overhear one of her
parents using an ugly, racial slur? If she did, she has processed that as the normal mode
of reference for a specific type of people, and her innocence is already tarnished.
Now our nation is embroiled in a series of violent protests and riots, due to yet
another brutal example of twisted thinking on the part of a man who has a distorted
idea of different races of people. While at the same time time. the twitter-twerp
who is supposed to be the leader of the nation, is fanning the flames of hatred and
violence, instead of calling for justice and reform in all our law enforcement agencies.
Another little girl named Alice, is a classic British literary character created by
Lewis Carroll. She had a cat she called Dinah, and one day she followed a
white rabbit down a rabbit hole. Her adventure that followed was something like
a bad, acid trip, a century before that kind of substance abuse became a fad.
That surreal world of mindless creatures, is a reminder that every day in this
country, has seemed like just such a bad, acid trip, ever since the current
administration assumed office in 2017.
Eugene P. McNerney
