I wondered why I have not written any more letters to the
President nor have I needed to voice my chagrin with what I observe in the
world. My tentative answer to this silence is that I am becoming more aware
that I am getting older by the minute and during whatever time is left, I no
longer have “hope” to see improvement in the world in which I live.
Watching the persistent echoes of dichotomous voices of
members of Congress only getting worse without any reasonable prospect of
meaningful legislation, I despair of seeing progress in addressing national
problems. However this or the next election turns out, how can anyone expect
Congress and the President will agree on methods designed to address
immigration, income inequality, student debt, low paying jobs, racism, and
other issues relevant to the health of our nation, e.g., global warming.
While ISIL is admittedly a horrendous outgrowth of misguided
strategies dealing with those who want to advance an agenda that sees the
United States and the West, in general, as enemies, it is shortsighted to
resort again to violence and weapons to achieve a just conclusion. We have
tried military might long enough with such terrible results that one wonders
why we continue to use the same resources to expect a different outcome. We
have helped to make a bad situation worse by not addressing the root problems
of the Middle East, which are the lack of a credible government in any of the
“nations” (euphemism for the outcome of decisions of WWI), hatred among the
various Muslim sects, and the general lack of tolerance of differences among
people. To think that military interventions will deal with these basic issues
seems infantile. Building a more tolerant Middle East will be achieved best by
diplomacy and foreign aid focusing on building civic institutions that focus on
maintaining legal and economic structures that promote the general well being
of the total population.
Chagrined by the obtuse responses of the nations to the
problems associated with global warming, I start to think that I am lucky to be
closer to death after a “normal” life. To think that we are doing nothing to
address this issue with the result that our grandchildren and any of their
offspring will be living a world designed for the miserable! I remain
dumbfounded that so many are so obtuse not to see the handwriting on the wall.
Waiting for international consensus is only a rationalization for the
resistance of those nations who should be leading the way by adopting measures
to reduce pollution.
Watching with interest the problems facing Catholicism is a
parochial vestige of my background as a priest. I am interested in the twists
and turns of any religious organization attempting to remain relevant. Pope
Francis is about 50 years too late! He is a beacon of hope in a dying organization
without any hope of a positive outcome. Were he to endorse a liberal agenda, he
would lose the Southern Hemisphere where there are more Catholics, but far more
conservative. And, he would not get any more active Catholics in the West who
have gone past the relevance of organized religion. It is a no win situation.
In fact, there is a rush of people interested in spirituality, independent of
organized religion. They are aware that there is a dimension of reality that
supersedes the mundane, but are unwilling to deal with the structures of
religion. I find that Richard Rohr’s daily meditation (CAC.ORG) captures the
universality of the divine, even though his approach comes out of the Catholic
tradition. Given the past history of bigotry and violence resulting from
extremists in Christianity, now noted in the Muslim world, it is hard not to
consider spirituality independently of organized religion.
Independent of Ezekial Emanuel’s views of old age, I admit thinking
that I am fortunate to have lived at a relatively great time in history. While
I was in grade school during WWII, my life has benefitted by the policies
flowing out of the Roosevelt era. Even though my father’s maximum weekly income
as a police officer in Brockton was $63, I was far from poor. We may not have
had a television or car until I was in high school, but somehow, we were in the
company of so many others that it never was perceived as a loss. Graduating
from high school in 1955, there was a general consensus that everyone was going
to be able to own a house and have the conveniences that were becoming common,
independent of what wohttp://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/rk they did. My adult life was blessed by so many
opportunities available to all. While I appreciated whatever success I had, I
did not feel that it was at the expense of others. There was a general feeling
that “life was good”.
I consider my life today as great. I had a great experience
working in the Veterans Administration. Today, much has been written about the
agency’s problems, but my experience was far more positive. Somehow, I worked
with people who almost universally were focused on the mission of helping the
veterans. People worked hard with relatively few complaints. I was never aware
of any shenanigans designed to distort reality, e.g., false reporting of
workload. And, I have been able to enjoy retirement without the concerns that
appear to be rapidly expanding in the population of seniors whose resources
were compromised by the financial meltdown. More people appear to be heading
towards a retirement marked by hardship and anxiety.
In all, then, death to me will close a wonderful life that I
wish all could have. It will come before the full consequences of our national
political gridlock and the ominous consequences of global warming are experienced.
It is hard not to be depressed by the status of national debates. Death can be
a friend.
