And in studying their personal experiences in striving for safety and security they seemed to have many things in common but the one thing that stood out to me was that they all had a shared understanding of recognizing the importance of compassion when it came to their own sustainability.
Yes! They all recognized man's humanity to man - the desire to help and care for others.
A while back, I interviewed Ralph Webster and felt he really did a good wrap up of a need that has been prevalent throughout history - a need to recognize compassion and how it aids in our growth and healing processes and the destiny that can occur when compassion is not present.
Ralph started off the interview by telling me why he focused on his grandmother's story.
'As you know, One More Moon is the true story of my grandmother’s journey from her comfortable life at the Pensione Alexandra in Naples, Italy to America - after Mussolini and the Fascists joined with Hitler - and as countries across the world closed their doors to Jewish refugees fleeing the spread of Nazi evil.
Here is why I wrote the story. Three years ago my wife Ginger and I took an extended trip backpacking, hiking, and biking across Europe. I suppose you could say we were celebrating the good life.
Ironically our trip coincided with the escalating refugee crisis. Refugees in large numbers were searching for safety, security, and economic opportunity. They were fleeing Syria and other areas under siege with literally the clothes on their backs. At night we watched news reports on CNN and BBC. And, by day, we encountered groups on trains, at train stations, in cities, in small towns, and at border crossings.
Right in front of our eyes we watched mothers, fathers, children, and groups of young men literally struggling to survive. Many had left successful lives in their past - something one might not notice by observing because when they fled they were all penniless and had no choice but to leave everything they owned behind.
We saw conversations and confrontations with authorities - some civil, some heated. We recognized the difficulty and frustration in trying to communicate across the medium of different languages. It was easy to see that these were people simply looking for a hand up, not a handout. And, we saw a similar difficulty and frustration as governments and politicians tried to wrap their heads around this issue.
Watching brought tears to our eyes. I hope we all feel compassion for those forced to leave the lands of their mothers and fathers through no fault of their own. And, this helped me to understand that my family had experienced this when they were given no choice but to leave their homelands. That’s why I have written my books. By writing I want to add my contribution to the world’s understanding. It makes me angry that some political leaders are using refugee and immigration issues to divide us and create the politics of fear.
My family may have come to America in a different time - and, yes, it was a different circumstance and a different generation. Yet, I am certain that the hardships and the feelings were much the same - the anguish, the loss, the confusion, the uncertainty, the isolation, the fears, the unknown, the way others reacted.
I want others to understand the personal depth of this humanitarian crisis. Mine is not a plea for money nor am I trying to make a political statement. Immigration is a complicated topic both for those leaving and for those accepting. My plea is simply for compassion, respect, and dignity. I want us all to recognize that refugees, those forced to leave the lands of their mothers and fathers, are the victims. They should never be made to be the enemy.'
What would you like people to know most about your book One More Moon?
I hope readers will take its message to heart. There will always be reasons forcing people to migrate - to run for their lives and leave their homelands. That is the inconvenient truth. People may not always flee because of dictators and tyrants, or safety and security, or race or religion.
It may be because of earthquakes, fires, and other natural disasters. It may be because there is not enough food or because of rising sea levels. Others may simply be searching for a better life for their children. That is the nature of our world and the nature of humans. The world must find ways to civilly accommodate this phenomenon. That will not always be comfortable. We may have to be prepared to give what others might take. I hope we will learn to treat others in the way we would want to be treated.
My books are not about heroes - simply about ordinary people persevering through extraordinary times. I am writing about people like you and me - how sometimes in order to survive one has to put one foot before the other and take one step at a time. And, I am afraid that if we fail to understand that the world is our collective melting pot, the legacy of the Holocaust may become the legacy of our civilization.
If you wish to read the entire interview it is located here.
https://www.facebook.com/RalphWebster.Author
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