WE'RE, AT HEART, OPTIMISTIC PEOPLE

Dear Editor

Thanks to Sister Delores at our parish, we get a chance to read the wonderful monthly articles of Sister Joyce Rupp (you can look her up online).

Her article this month speaks to the angst that threatens to overwhelm many of us around America and our world in these chaotic and dysfunctional times. I’d argue that we are, at heart, an optimistic people. That’s why so many of us chose to come here. We are compelled to embrace hope for a future that will be brighter, not only for our children and grandchildren, but for all humanity. And I’d further argue that even those of us who put our faith in simplistic, fantastical, and duplicitous “solutions,” despite, or because of those manipulated and self-induced fears and frustration, will inevitably turn from this miasma of self-destructiveness toward a search for a real and meaningful future.

How do we achieve that brighter future amidst this chaos of seemingly intentional dysfunction and repression?

1. Embrace that which quickens and liberates our souls, rather than that which withers and diminishes them.
2. 2. Embrace our individual and collective power to act for good. If we choose to be, we are an unstoppable engine for ethical and moral action, humanity, and creativity.
3. 3. Aggressively and fearlessly access unbiased media and materials to voraciously inform ourselves about history and current events, nationally and internationally. We cannot fear facts. They not only allow us but also give us the will to act.
4. 4. As Joyce would say, embrace this incomparable creation around us and the brighter future it impels us toward, a future of our choosing.
5. And, as a first step toward that bright, achievable future, ask us about something we call “The River- TREE,” which can offer us a functional mechanism to power those unquenchable dreams.

Jim Martin, Perryville