There is an innumerable quantity of reasons to be upset about the world.  Freedom is under attack.  Democracy nearly ended a year and a half ago.  Rents are spiraling out of control.  The world is perilously close to nuclear war.  If you’re upset, I promise I understand. 

Each of us has our own set of problems about which to be upset.  I walk the diabetes tightrope every single day.  My depression is a threat to my very existence.  I will never be loved romantically again.  My dog still tries to eat my furniture.  You surely have your own, some of which are probably worse than mine. 

I won’t pretend there are no reasons to be sad. 

On the other hand…

“It’s very important to remember that there are good people in the world who are doing good, in lots of ways.  Goodness exists, even when it can’t be seen.  So do beauty, and love, and the light of faraway stars.  The good will show itself in time.”

— Nanea Hoffman

Somewhere on this little planet in one of the billions, or perhaps, trillions of galaxies that make up our universe, at this very moment… right… now… a baby is being born.  It’s taking its first breath.  All of the world, in all of its beauty and wonder, is beginning in front of this new life. 

A few minutes ago, a child heard Mozart for the very first time, and she experienced a joy that will make her into an Artist.  She’s learning about the miracles human beings can create simply with our minds and our hands.  Some time in the not-too-distant future she will create something of lasting beauty that will change someone else’s life. 

“No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.” 

            — George Chakiris

An hour ago, a boy just got his first real kiss, and he’s reeling in ecstasy, wondering if his lips will always feel so oddly chapped as they do right now, and whether she will text him today.  He’s excited to be alive. 

Yesterday, an old man like me just got a dog that will love him unconditionally for the rest of his life.  He’s cuddling with him right now.  The dog feels a contentment it never experienced before.  It’s warm, safe, dry, and loved. 

“I still believe

In the Goodness

Even when it’s hard to find”

— Sara Niemietz and WG Snuffy Walden

Last week a painter sold her first canvas, and she feels like a real Artist for the first time in her life.  Her dreams seem real, and the flame of her creativity has been ignited.  In less than a year, she’ll be having her first show at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.  A hundred years from now people will continue to gaze in awe at her painting. 

In August, a new teacher will step in front of his class for the first time.  His career will span more than 25 years, and children still unborn will remember him for the rest of their lives.  One of his students will grow up and make a difference in ways the teacher never imagined, and it will be because of what the child learned in his class. 

“I see your head
Is hanging low low low
Doing all you can
To keep the spark inside your soul
Wish you could see
You like I do
You’re original
You’re powerful
You’re something new
Can’t wait to see
Just where you go
I do believe
You’re gonna let them know”

–Niemietz – Taylor

A couple of weeks ago, humanity gazed deeper into the universe than we ever have before.  We’re learning more about the beginnings of life as we know it than we ever could have known before.  We’re gaining a deeper understanding of our origins.  By gazing into the past, we are creating a better future.  Thirty years ago Voyager 1 showed us our place in the universe from 4 billion miles away.  Carl Sagan helped us to understand.

Look again at that dot.  That’s here.  That’s home.  That’s us.  On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.  The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.  Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.  Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.  Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.  In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life.  There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes.  Settle, not yet.  Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.  There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.  To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

— Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994

Sometimes, for the preservation of our own mental health, we need to think about the possibilities that life still holds.  Love still exists, even when it’s hard to find.

I believe in The Power of Love.  Love is the only reason I’m still alive.

It is the love of people who know me that has saved my life from the best efforts of my diabetes to kill me on nearly two dozen occasions.

It is Speedy Shine’s love that gives me that gives me the strength to fight the depression that threatens my existence more often than I like to admit.

It is the love of my best friend and her ex-boyfriend that allow me to have a home.  I would survive as a homeless person for less than 48 hours.

It is the love of a friend from so many years ago that allows me to eat well enough to survive.

It is the love of The People on The Porch that gives my life purpose so I can feel that I can make a difference even while I’m not capable of doing anything to earn a living.  Their financial assistance keeps me from complete poverty, and their attention to my work makes me feel that I’m living instead of merely surviving.

It is the love of my Facebook friends that keeps me from feeling entirely alone, even while I do all I can to avoid leaving the house.  They allow me to feel some connection to the rest of the world.  They help me to control my fear of other people.

I believe it is love that will finally save us from losing our freedom.  I believe love is stronger than hate.  I could be wrong.  I remind myself of that several times a day.  But I will hold on to my belief in the power of love until the stars grow cold.

Love is my religion.

My true religion, my simple faith is in love and compassion.  There is no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine, or dogma.  Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple.  The doctrine is compassion.  Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are – these are ultimately all we need.

—  The Dalai Lama

Of course, I’m an atheist, so how can I have a religion?

 A great Rabbi was once asked, “Why did God create atheists?”

The Rabbi said, “Atheists are the most important example for all who believe in God.  When an atheist is moral, and good, and kind, and compassionate, it’s not because he believes God commanded him to be so, nor because he fears any kind of punishment for being bad.  An atheist performs acts of righteousness because he knows it is right to do.  And where is God in this?  If He is in the atheist’s heart, or guiding him, it doesn’t matter.  The atheist helps regardless.  He helps because he believes there is nobody else, no power that can or will act without his own deeds.  So when someone is in need, in our times of crisis, you shouldn’t say, ‘I’ll pray for you, ‘ or, ‘May God help you.’ Rather, in this moment, you should be as an atheist.  Believe there is no God who can help, and say, ‘I will help you.’ In this way the atheist is closest to God, and so must we be as well.”

Captain Kirk taught me, in April 1967, when I was not yet five years old, that the three most important words are not, “I love you.”  The three most important words are, “Let me help.”

Where is the love in your life?  I promise there is some, even if you can’t find it at the moment.  I know mine isn’t what you probably want, but you have it anyway, even though we’ve probably never met and almost certainly never will.  If you’re a human being, I want you to find happiness, meaning, and love in your life.  I want you to have enough to eat, a warm bed in which to sleep, and somewhere to handle your bodily functions in a sanitary way. 

I’m willing to bet you feel the same way about nearly everyone.  On the other hand, I just turned a straight, and the player to my left rivered a full house, so I should probably not be gambling so much right now.  Perhaps you are battling the Hatred that is poisoning your soul, and if that’s the case, I hope you win the fight.  It’s not helping you to feel any better, I promise you.  It’s hurting you.  It’s hurting the object of your Hatred.  No matter how well deserved that hatred is, take a break from it for just a little while.  It will still be there when you’re ready to come back. 

Sometimes we need to lose things in order to learn not only their value, but also their weight.  Loss is a brilliant teacher that way; it can show us what’s important simply by creating space where it once was.”

— Mark Groves

It was 111 degrees here today.  My best friend loaned me the courage to leave the house, and she took me out to lunch.  I put my dog, Speedy Shine in the backyard with two trays full of ice cubes, and lots of water, and I filled all his toys with that cheese spread you get from PetSmart.  I told him I loved him, and I would be back soon.  I was gone for just over two hours, and when I returned, he jumped on me for nearly 5 uninterrupted minutes.  It was as though I had been gone for a year.  And there was an extra jolt of love from both of us.

And even in the middle of the summer, I couldn’t help but remember this Christmas story from what is, in my view, the greatest series ever to appear on television.

“Every year, when I was little, Daddy told me a story about The Great War.  How on Christmas Eve an English soldier started singing “Silent Night,” and from the other side of the trenches, the German soldiers joined in, and then they crossed the enemy lines and vowed not to fight each other the next day.  But the sun rose, and their commanders told them to charge, and they did.  I don’t know why that story makes me feel hopeful.  Maybe it’s that Good Will exists.  Even if it’s small and weak, there’s a chance it may grow up one day.”

— Barbara Hall in “I’ll Fly Away” Season 2, Episode 11, “Comfort and Joy.” 12/11/1992

That’s been with me for just shy of 30 years.  It will be with me until I am no more.  And now it is with you. 

Search for the Goodness.  Seek the Kindness.  I promise you, no matter how dark the skies, there are little lights of love still to be found.

I love you.