Hope, Despair, Faith Part 11

Did not think when wrote part one of HDF(April, 2020) that over a year later it would be hard to feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Covid keeps on wasting and wrecking as it takes lives. The few moments of doom that felt when our island had the false North Korea incoming missile alert at times has turned into full time covid/climate change gloom.

That first post described some of what my Mom went through as a little girl during the last Great pandemic. The current covid situation has now surpassed the number of deaths in the US as the "Spanish flu" wrought. In addition to the virus, our world in engulfed by never ending climate disasters brought on by global warming on an unnatural scale due to human activity.  The planet was not built to sustain life styles which leave such huge carbon footprints. 

It is difficult to hope that we will change our patterns. Given the fight over people wearing masks, how will enough of us ever take action to mitigate the environmental damage we cause. Would we lessen our individual impact by walking to nearby stores instead of driving? Eating no or less meat? Staying home for vacations? More people are doing these things but not enough.

Scientists and organizations such as the Sierra Club have been warning for decades that natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes would intensify due to warming which threatens ours and thousands of other species existence. Who needs the spotted owl a climate denier once told me. Who needs? The answer is we all do. 99.9 percent of all animal species have been lost, and the current accelerated rate of extinction impacts those left and leads, among other damming news some scientists to predict us humans are on the clock with a minute or less left.

Congress and the executive branch since the modern era and before have failed to do what they should to preserve clean air, and clean water. I especially feared though the damage a Trump administration would wrought but clung to the hope that those to come after could undo the damage. That has happened to some extent with the undoing of hundreds of his damming actions via new executive orders and lawsuits. But there is much which occurred that his administration caused or made worse that will take decades if ever to undo. One example is the amount of pollution particles that keep getting added at a harmful rate to ground ozone, the air we breathe, thanks to reluctance to raise inadequate standards. 

It is easy to understand why so many young people today are despairing along with the rest of the population. What is hopeful though is that so many of them are taking action and working towards healing planet efforts. They are taking the threat much more serious than my (first earth day) generation did with many committed to continue over the long haul to work towards changes that make a difference. There is also light provided by scientific breakthroughs such as the Project X carbon recapture project and many others.

In the meantime what helps me to remain sane is to look for the goodness found by the actions of people known and unknown. Stories of peoples efforts during disasters and those of everyday acts of kindness are uplifting. Escaping helps too. A recent study shows that a half hour of running enables the body to produce endocannabinoids which produce a lightly stoned state. There are different levels of "runners high" with the highest being rather elusive and infrequent but the "stoned state" can and does occur for me every time out. 

Family and friendships provide more comfort than running highs though. Am so grateful for spouse Betty, daughters, and sons.  Granddaughters Rhea and Luna's eyes beam with a joy that brighten any day. I got to believe their future is full of unlimited possibilities. And that such is true for countless other young people including grandson arriving soon.

As a minister's kid I spent more time in church than ever cared to growing up. The best part of each Sunday Morning was the benediction which meant hallelujah the service was ending. It was not all drudgery, however, especially the jokes Dad invariably inserted. I used to give him grades like A or B as he didn't much like getting C's or worse.

 What I didn't gain if had listened more carefully to what he preached I did learn from what he did. Whenever any of the congregations 300 members and their loved ones were hospitalized he made ongoing visitations with them through discharge and after. I tagged along occasionally and saw first hand how much people were comforted by scripture and prayer. He made weekly visits to two sisters in their nineties whom lived on their own, and those visits were the highlight of their week. A college friend, not a member or our church or even our town, due to severe depression had a nervous breakdown, and dropped out of school. Somehow Dad found out and visited with him many times. My friend upon recovery returned to school and went on to live a fruitful and fairly long life. Once while on a road trip out west we visited a home where the man was flat out drunk in the presence of his young children in the early afternoon. Dad counseled and prayed with him and he pledged to clean up his act. There are dozens of stories such as these.

Family 1953

Mom was in addition to her job as a home economics teacher was in truth also a co-pastor. Any one who showed up our doorstep (and plenty did) hungry were fed. They became foster parents for one of Mom's students who lived at the local orphanage.  The two of them believed in a God that loves people and they in turn did what they could to share that love. Sometimes I wish they were still around to buckle me up when despair. But knowing what they would say is comfort enough. Their faith endures and as such strengthens my belief

HOPE

that yes we will get through this pandemic. That yes we will get a grip on climate change and make the planet more whole. That yes with faith all things are possible.