Once, when I was young, I had a vision. I was twelve, and I was asleep in bed and I woke to see a tall, dark woman with long dark hair standing at the foot of my bed. She didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything to her, and she faded out of sight. It wasn't scary, and the words "the red way," came to me and kind of stayed with me. The next morning my mother told me it was probably my great-great grandmother, who was Metis. It wasn't until many years later in college, when I felt compelled to pursue some Native American studies, one of the things to come out of my readings was this concept of "the lesson." The older I got, the more references I found to the concept. And I ran across the phrase "the red way," discovering it referred to a Native concept of living one's life, and to be thankful for the lessons.
I spent many years trying to figure out what my "red way" was, as I am Metis also. I thought if life is for learning lessons, what have I learned? I mean, really, besides how to do emergency repairs on ventilators and balance my checkbook. I have to say that one of the most important lessons I can ever remember learning I got from one of my Journalism teachers, Mr. McCauley.
The lesson was "consider the source."
I cannot begin to tell you how many times that simple directive, once considered, has made a major impact on my life. That small phrase has transformed a whole host of incidents too tiny to even remember. At the time, muttered by an elderly man with gray and white, fly away hair, it seemed an innocuous statement, almost a no-brainer, but I wrote it down dutifully in my Copyreading and Editing notes. It was one that really, I had never considered before. And thankfully, I've never forgotten it.
I didn't realize it at the time, but Mr. McCauley saved my life. Always prone to have a bit of trouble with self-esteem, that phrase was like a lifesaver thrown to a drowning woman. No more was I prey to those who hunt out and stalk women with poor self-esteem. I was making some mistakes, but my eyes were opening. Wait a minute! Consider the source!
I started applying it to daily issues. For instance commercialism. We are supposed to do our jobs, which is to consume. We go to work, get money, spend and consume something. To this end, we are bombarded by TV and radio ads urging us to buy this vitamin, or that beauty product. Advertising worms its way into our most private moments. If it doesn't get us, it gets our children. Keeping up with the status quo becomes the paramount goal of parent and child alike, causing us to take jobs that take us away from our families at night, and for long hours at a time, subjecting us to unrelenting stress that sneaks into our marriages, relationships, and health. I felt fine before I turned the TV on, but now I realize I'm getting a double chin, I've got gray hair, and surely there must be other things wrong with me. Wait a minute! Consider the source!
Rev. Wright, Obama's preacher, said it succinctly on TV the other night. When asked how he felt about what Obama had said about him, the reverend matter of factly replied, oh, Obama's a politician. He has to do what a politician does. Here is a man who has been the spiritual leader of a man who wants to be our president, and he passes Obama off like an afterthought. I don't like what he said about my country. Seems to me if he truly cared about changing America for the better, he'd be a little bit more supportive of Obama, given he's his spiritual leader and all. Consider the source.
Consider the source. What a great slide rule. What a great concept. What's the purpose, what's the agenda, who gains and who loses? What's the real motivation. It's not a guarantee against bad decisions, but it can shed a little light on the situation.
So, after all this time, my hat's off to you, Mr. McCauley. I do appreciate the little newsman's tip you gave me. It's the best advice I can give to anybody. And with that in mind, consider the source.
