Why I became Wisegrannie, put down my sewing and began to blog

 
Reason 1:  Years ago I came across an article by a priest working in South America. It was called “Taking Sides”.
He challenged the widely held belief that any problem could be resolved by bringing together the two parties with different beliefs or ideologies to discuss the matter.  He pointed out that this was far too simplistic. In some situations, it was simply impossible.

In unjust situations, where one side holds all the power over the other there can never be an equal dialogue.

Faced with such a situation you have to decide for yourself who is right and who is wrong, then be very, very brave.

Sometimes you have to take sides.

Reason 2:  Another time, watching a World War 2 documentary, I was suddenly shocked into attention by the image on the screen. The scene showed an architect’s office and, on a drawing board, the meticulous plans for an intricate building.  The plans were for Auschwitz and the designs were for the gas chambers.

Somehow it was more chilling than the dreadful images of the death camps themselves. This cultured man, an exemplary model of a conscientious architect, taking up his pencil and his slide rule and, with every attention to detail, calmly calculating the measurements necessary to achieve the greatest efficiency in destroying his fellow human beings.

Sometimes the worst monsters are sitting in impressive offices.

Reason 3:  I learnt another lesson from the example of Sister Elizabeth Kenny the pioneering Australian who transformed the treatment of polio victims in the 1930s and 40s.

Ridiculed, looked down upon and obstructed by the medical establishment at every turn, she steadfastly fought on, in defiance of the accepted wisdom, to demonstrate that her approach was the most effective method of aiding the recovery of her child patients.  Starting with only the grass roots support from parents and patients, then gradually winning over a few other professionals who paid serious attention to her evidence, she eventually succeeded in revolutionising practice and transforming the lives of polio victims.

In the end, if you have the strength to keep going, a commitment to what is right, and a stalwart cohort of fellow fighters, you can win through

These are three reasons why I became Wisegrannie and joined the blogging universe – just one old person hanging on in there, still loving life and telling stories to feed the spirit. In my own small way joining the fight against the monsters living in the forests of an unequal world.

 

 

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