Sometimes

Sometimes when I see a headline of yet another senseless shooting;

sometimes when I hear a politician make outrageous remarks with the clear objective of getting headlines;

sometimes when I see incomprehensible numbers of refugees and migrants desperately seeking safety;

sometimes when I hear a CEO try to justify the fact that his salary is 350 times that of the average worker in his company;

sometimes when I hear someone claim that the science of climate change isn’t yet ‘settled’;

sometimes when I see another video of a policeman shooting an unarmed man;

sometimes when I hear of a random shooting of a policeman;

sometimes when I reflect on the hopeless nature of Mideast violence;

sometimes when the inevitability of human conflict seems overwhelming and the results seem to be growing ever more catastrophic . . .

I start to despair.

But then I find these prophetic words: 

“We cannot understand the moral Universe. The arc is a long one, and our eyes reach but a little way; we cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; but we can divine it by conscience, and we surely know that it bends toward justice. Justice will not fail, though wickedness appears strong, and has on its side the armies and thrones of power, the riches and the glory of the world, and though poor men crouch down in despair. Justice will not fail and perish out from the world of men, nor will what is really wrong and contrary to God’s real law of justice continually endure.” – Theodore Parker, Unitarian Minister, Abolitionist, Transcendentalist 1810-1860.

And I am somewhat comforted.

Indeed, for all of its evils and failings, the world is becoming more moral, more tolerant, more equitable.  There are many challenges, and the practicalities of creating less war and more social justice are daunting, but the recognition of what is right and good is widespread, and we need only find the courage and energy to put conviction into action.

Indeed, the fact that civilization has triumphed in no small measure over chaos, war, selfishness, vengeance, envy, demagoguery and greed is a miracle of the first order.  When one observes the rage that appears daily with such minute cause on our roadways, one can only marvel at the fact that we have a society that functions as well as it does.

Think of the ways that our morality and social conscience have been transformed!  We no longer view war and conquest as something to celebrate.  We are repulsed by the idea of slavery.  An ever-increasing part of the world respects women and provides them opportunities to live any type of life they choose.  We are becoming more accepting of religious and cultural diversity (the recent populist and anti-immigrant fever notwithstanding).  We seek to comfort and aid the disabled, mentally ill and sick rather than cast them out coldly into the dark.

Sadly, though, the change does not come fast enough.  What can an individual do to hasten its progress?  We are confronted daily through all manner of media with all of the remaining evil and misery in this world and it is intolerably discomforting to be aware of it and do little or nothing about it.  This is the anguish of the modern age.

The only recourse for most of us is to lead our lives in good faith, resisting the impulses that we know will contribute to injustice or hostility, and play whatever small role we may be offered in helping our fellow human beings along the way.