Call to Action From the Dead Poets
By James T. Moore (04/18/07)
It takes an exceptional script with excellent acting and a dynamic storyline to make me sit through a movie without yawning. If by some chance its message stirs something in my brain that is more meaningful than the obvious, I consider it a bonus.
In The Dead Poet Society, the professor gathers his class of young men around glassed-in pictures of the school’s bygone classes. He asks a boy to read a certain poem:
The boy reads: “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, ol’ time is still a-flying, these same flowers that smile today, tomorrow may be dying.”
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,” says the Prof. “The Latin term for that is carpe diem. Who knows what that means?”
“Carpe diem. Seize the day,” answers one youth.
“Very good. Why does the writer use these lines?” Blank stares.
“Because,” says the Prof, “we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, one day every one in this room is going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die. Now step over here.” The boys move closer
“These are some faces of the past. You’ve seen them many times but have you really looked at them? Not much different from you, are they? Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. Their eyes full of hope. They believe they’re destined for great things, but…” he pauses, “these boys are now fertilizing daffodils.”
Then, he whispers: “But if you lean in close, you can hear their legacy to you. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary.”
The message in this scene of the movie is pointedly clear: Don’t waste a moment. Use your time and talents wisely. Make every day count. All of which are commendable thoughts to fill the minds of young, ambitious students who will soon be off to realize their individual dreams.
However, that, in my opinion, is not the most important reason for taking to heart the admonition “carpe diem.” To my mind, seizing the day has a deeper, more significant message than striving to succeed in one’s career. Today, as like no day before, the gist of carpe diem, the deeper reason for seizing the day, is to become more aware of not just of how to build a bridge, run a business, or become a doctor; but to know and understand the dangerous things that are happening to the nation we live in and love, and to use whatever time you can afford, and talents God gave you, to combat it.
In order to write down the lines spoken in “The Dead Poet Society”, I had to stop the videotape occasionally, and TV’s Gospel Hour came up. The size of the audience was breathtaking. The large, superbly-attired choir was inspiring. And the rafters shook with sounds of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. You see, it was Independence Day, and in the spirit of “God in America”, the songs were not only spiritual but patriotic as well.
It was an inspiring sight and sound, and I was caught up in its religious/patriotic fervor, until suddenly, I started to wonder how many people in this huge audience really knew what they were singing about and celebrating.
From the looks of the wide eyes and open mouths I guessed that I was watching religion by rote and patriotism by the numbers. Many people in that audience may have had the idea of “seizing the day” in their everyday affairs, but how many, I wondered, had given any thought of seizing that particular day to help save this country, in any way they could, from the evil forces that are trying to destroy it?
What are those evil forces?
You know them as well as I do: the “one world” elitists who are trying to steal our sovereignty and force us into global subservience; the bought-and-paid-for politicians who are replacing our God-given freedoms with 1984-style tyranny; the “administrators” who are using our military to accomplish their agenda of international conquest and colonial dominance; those in Congress who are shilling for foreign powers because that is more profitable than doing their Constitutional duty; International financiers who have a vested interest in destroying America’s wealth by mounting debt and “forgiving” foreign loans; would-be educators who indoctrinate students with a false vision of America by re-writing our history books.
Less evil, but perhaps more danger, lies with the nine out of 10 American citizens who still have absolutely no idea that any of what we say here is really happening. But most troubling of all, are the one in 10 Americans who see that our nation is being destroyed, and instead of doing anything about it, are using carpe diem to better their lifestyle, while they sit and watch the free country that makes “seizing the day” possible, go down around them.
How could the “dead poets” be so smart, and the rest of us be so dumb?
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