Thoughts on language...

Is your finger in the dike?

The story of the brave Dutch boy who noticed a leak in the dike that held back the sea from flooding the lowlands, and plugged it with his finger until help could arrive, becomes a startlingly useful metaphor in the modern world if viewed in the right way.

The finger in the dike says Stop! to the sea of rancor that threatens to flood our lives. It is a non-violent response to all sorts of violent behavior.

It is not a finger on a trigger that threatens to fight force with force. How many soldiers and policemen who carry firearms as a deterrent to force have wished that their bullets could act as cautionary fingers to stem the rancor, rather than as a terminal threat of utter destruction?

Perhaps the finger in the dike could be a finger in the ear, so that we don't even acknowledge the rancorous talk that leads to violent responses. How many of us are aware enough of the potential consequences of small incivilities to admonish the actors with a civil word before their actions escalate to truly damaging behavior? How many of us can remain calm enough to simply stop the leak, rather than tremble in terror at the thought of the raging sea behind the wall?

A civil society is the only wall that can hold back the flood of barbarity that threatens in its absence.

The seawall of civility is more intact in our world than sensationalized accounts of its breakdowns would imply. We don't need closeups of every tiny leak that magnify the dangers with titillating suggestion of possible further damage.

Instead we need to recognize the heroes who stand with their fingers in the leaks, and help them to repair the dike.