Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Belajar dari Abraham Lincoln

Bentar lagi Pilpres, gema ramenya rusuhnya sudah membahana sejak awal februari 2014.
Jakarta jadi target utama kampanye, tapi kota-kota lain di Indonesia pun tak luput dari sorotan para calon-calon yang notabene sebenarnya anget-anget tahi ayam saja.
Nama baru membuat gebrakan, sebut saja inisialnya JOKOWI :p
Nama lama yang bercokol di order baru dahulu pun mengais-ngais kembali perhatian publik pertiwi.
Nama lama yang menghimpun kekuatan dari nafas-nafas baru pun tertatih-tatih menyusun mimpi lamanya yang belum terwujud.
Koalisi mumpuni mulai digelar layaknya dagelan akbar lima tahun sekali.
Penontonnya ada yang menua dan bosan selepas didikte 32tahun lamanya.
Ada pula penonton baru yang masuk dalam golongan "anak layangan". Penonton baru ini pun gemar saya julukki dengan sebutan generasi ORDE TINTA CELUP.

Bijaklah dalam memilih calon pemimpinmu. Bahkan di islam dianjurkan pemilihan ulul azmi yang sesuai syariat. Kita negara majemuk, tentukan syariat yang sepenuhnya memihak rakyat, bukan hanya untuk agama tertentu atau suku tertentu.
Pilihlah pula ibu negara yang nrimo masukkan publik dan meng-implementasi-kan amanat dalam jalan kebenaran bukan jalan ketenaran status sosial.
Pilihlah pula wakil rakyat yang tahu jalan pulang kerumahnya tiap selesai bekerja sehingga tanpa perlu dikawal riuhnya bunyi sirine blokade jalan, pilihlah mereka yang bersedia ikut serta merasakan macet bersama-sama ribuan wajah letih lainnya di pukul 4.30 sore...
Pilihlah pemimpin bangsa yang tahu mana prioritas negara dan integritas bangsa sehingga kantung mata yang terbentuk di bawah matanya adalah guratan letih karena tak henti berdedikasi untuk rakyatnya.
Bukanlah siratan kemelut diotaknya memikirkan lirik lagu untuk album kepresidenan berikutnya....

Belajarlah dari potongan singkat dari isi surat berikut ini. Surat yang ditulis tangan oleh mantan presiden Amerika Serikat, Abraham Lincoln kepada guru yang akan mengajar putranya....


“My son starts school today. It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while and I wish you would treat him gently. It is an adventure that might take him across continents. All adventures that probably include wars, tragedy and sorrow. To live this life will require faith, love and courage.

So dear Teacher, will you please take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to know, teaching him - but gently, if you can. Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend. He will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader. 

Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found. In school, teacher, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when he does win. 

Teach him to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy if you can and teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Teach him if you can - how to laugh when he is sad, teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics. 

Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tell him they are wrong. 

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is doing it. Teach him to listen to every one, but teach him also to filters all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through. 

Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patient to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God. 

This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. He is such a nice little boy and he is my son.



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