Sorry I don’t have any pictures to put up (I am photography challenged), but our trees have started to turn here in western NY. The reds always appear first, and some few oranges, too. Its a very lovely time of year. Having lived out in the arid West for so long, all the vegetation was quite a shock to me when my wife and I moved back east sixteen years ago, but what was most striking were all the trees, which grow in such abundance here, so many that the farmers consider saplings weeds. Such things remind me that all is not wrong with our world, and that we, individually and as a species, are only passing through, part of a long parade of life on earth.
It also helps me stay calm in the face of so much bile and anger in our society, and so much injustice. Outrage dominates America these days, though what one is outraged about very much depends on where you stand on the political spectrum. I believe that what underlies that outrage, however, is the knowledge among most people that things have gone terribly wrong. Most of us have lost the idea that our live and the lives of those we love, will continue to improve.
I see it in my son and daughter’s generation, the oft called Millennials, where jobs are scarce, most are part-time, and higher education requires taking on massive amounts of debt. I see it in the faces of older generations as well, the stress of working long hours for less pay, and often needing two jobs to cover their bills. Worse, I see the haunted looks of those who are unemployed or unemployable, many of them homeless, many suffering mental health disorders, reduced to begging.
At times, the feeling of helplessness dominates. When I watch our political leaders act as if they are playing some cruel playground game, rather than governing and doing the business of addressing our many problems, the sole reason we elected them to office, it frustrates and discourages me. The refusal to act, or when they do act, to act for the benefit of their corporate campaign donors, is sickening. The plague of Ebola is real, and yet it is symbolic of the times in which we live: governments ignoring the problem if it is once recognized doing too little and doing it too late.
But when I look at the faces of so many of our nation’s young people, I also see resilience and strength, courage and hope. That is one of the reasons I still blog despite everything. I do not have the physical strength or the good health to be an activist anymore, but I can still write, still communicate with so many more people than I ever dreamed would be possible when I was young. And that is a miracle.
If you are discouraged today by all the bad news, the wars, the droughts, the changing climate, the greed and power of our largest corporations and wealthiest individuals, remember that never before in history have so many had the power to make contact with others, to organize and act against the powers that be.
Human civilizations have always been troubled by many of the same problems we labor under today. Injustice is a perpetual consequence of those who place their interests before anyone else. Human beings have always fought for freedom, equality, social and economic justice, for a better world for their children, and hope has always been in short supply.
So, if you can, take a moment and look around you today. The physical world is vast and wondrous and fills me with awe at its complexity and beauty. Look as well into the faces of your family and friends, and at the young people you know or who cross your path this day.
See what I see and feel what I feel, for when I look at the physical world it gives me a moment of peace and the knowledge that such beauty is worth preserving. And when I look at the faces of those I care for and love, or even strangers I meet, I am filled with the desire to keep working for that better world, as hopeless and futile a task as it so often appears. For the world, the present moment and our future are worth fighting for, and it is essential we we keep faith with our ancestors who also struggled to make a better world for us.
Now I am off for some coffee. May your day go well, and you receive the strength to endure whatever burdens you bear.
Shantih,
Steven D
