Never Give Up!

Never Give Up! Never, ever, ever, give up! That is the total of a commencement speech Winston Churchill gave as he approached 90. To me, the message of my minister’s Easter Sunday sermon today was the same. Rev. Daniel Kanter is senior minister of the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, a liberal religious group. Rev. Kanter says he spent years worrying about the literal accuracy of the Easter story rather than focusing on the fundamental truth behind the joyful exclamation “Christ Is Risen.” In his sermon, Rev. Kanter said the fundamental truth is that out of brokenness and betrayal comes renewal and hope.

Rev. Kanter also told another story about an older woman in Philadelphia. One day she went to the center of an abandoned lot covered with broken glass and other trash. She drew a circle around where she stood and started filling her circle with art she made from discards nearby. Bystanders noticed and asked what she was doing; some then joined her. Eventually 27 vacant lots were transformed by the hands of many volunteers, all inspired by that one little old lady and her small circle.

Some good people’s response to my posts is that I am too optimistic – they say that there is no realistic chance that enough people will change behavior and act responsibly towards earth. I wouldn’t be doing this blog unless I thought that excessive human consumption, particularly in the past few decades, presents us with big challenges. I also wouldn’t be writing my posts unless I believed that the collective, failed policies of “more” can, and will be, transformed in ways that will protect us, our children, and our grandchildren.

Happy Spring, happy renewal.