the election

Here we are again, election time in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let's hope we are brave enough to survive the economic woes to make it to the other side. I am not old enough to have lived through the Great Depression, and my parents were only about 7 years old at the time, but I've heard stories, as I'm sure all of us Baby Boomers have, about the deprivations and dire outlooks for the future. No doubt many people suffered greatly in that time. No doubt that their children and their children's children will bear witness for years to come. But we are still here. We're here and we're going through a financial crisis--again. Is this just evidence of the fact that everything old is new again--that tired cliche? Or does this mean that the greed of mankind never tires? Or?? Whatever personal meaning we can glean from this crisis, like any other, should help us to "shore up the ruins," as T. S. Eliot said about modern life. Amid the political wrangling and name calling and back stabbing and soap-opera dramas, ordinary life goes on. We go to work, we cook dinners and eat with our families, we go to football games, to church, we sing in the choirs, we read the newspapers, we ride the bus, we shop for groceries. And we choose to find a way to make it work. This choice to survive is what separates us from the animals--instinct can go only so far. Hearts and minds together, we choose to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, not out of instinct, but out of love. More later. . . .