VIEW POINT

It seemed to be his bench and his alone. The old man with the grizzled face, mostly covered by his uneven beard, was on his bench facing the Rio Verde every time we walked by on our way to buy passage across the river on a hollowed out log boat. Funny what things one remembers from times of long ago, but it was a veinte (twenty centavos) to ride one way across the river and another veinte to return.

At first our conversations with him were not much more than como esta, buenos dias and buenas tardes, but as the days passed we started to expand our conversations so that we finally found out much more about our dear wizened friend.

‘No, he did not sleep on the bench.’

‘Yes, he did have a hut where he lived with a son and his family.’

‘He loved to come and watch the riders on horseback come down from the mountain with their little bags of produce to trade at the market and then watch them retreat back up the mountain as dusk drew near.’

‘Yes, he did once live in the mountain and traveled weekly to the banks of the Rio Verde with his own small bags of produce, hoping he would earn enough to replace the two veintes it cost him to cross the river and a little more for his family’s needs.’

‘He loved the view looking up at the mountain which was his home for so many years, but longed for the views he enjoyed, in days gone by, looking down at the valley as the twists of the trail brought its beauty into view for enjoyable glimpses. There were times then when he would take a short break from his ride to or from the valley just to enjoy the wonder and magnificence of the beautiful valley.’

Flashing forward some 55 years later when our grandson CJ visited that same valley. The views he experienced were very different from my old friend who sat on his bench in the plaza and even different than the views I had seen when I was but a lad.

Dusty trails seen long ago by my old friend were replaced in my youth by a paved two lane highway running through town and recently a larger, busier city with few dirt roads were seen by CJ.

My dear friend had lived in a bamboo walled hut with dirt floors. I lived in stable home with cement floors and cold water. CJ enjoyed many more modern conveniences that were never imagined by my bench sitting friend when he was but a lad.

My ancient friend had soakingly forded the river, while I was barely splashed as I rode in a dugout boat. If CJ had a need to cross the river he could easily do it walking or riding over the modern bridge which now spanned the Rio Verde.

There are so many events and philosophies in life which alter our point of view depending upon differences of time, locations, religions, nationalities, education, social status etc.

As I read the reactions to the political decisions or indecisions which leaders are or are not making, it is obvious that one’s point of view is framed according to the aforementioned differences.

Likewise, beliefs we have about war, immigration, taxes, health care and many other policies which are being made, will affect multiple generations are shaped by the factors of our individual environments.

Even such things as the legality of choices will be altered according to the influences which have and do uniquely influence.

Generally, judgments about the levels of fanaticism of another’s religious practices don't seem to be hereditary, but often come from influences of people who preach the practices of tolerance and love.

Strangely, a person’s economic level is looked at as a result of luck, inheritance, laziness, greed or a multitude of other factors depending on the current circumstances one finds themselves in in society.

Without belaboring the subject, we would be very hard pressed to find a point of view we have which is not a result of where we were born and the points of view which were expressed as we moved toward our present and temporary time and place.

As my wonderful friend from long ago told me, if we are willing to open our eyes and look around we will find beauty whether we are looking up to view the mountain or whether we are looking down to view the beauty of the valley.

The next time we are about to loudly put down the point of view of another, it might be better if we pause to examine and evaluate where they are and what brought each of us to this point. And then maybe, just maybe, we might have a bit more understanding and compassion for who they are and what they think at this point on their eternal journey.