Faithful,
Invisible, Incredible, Impossible
“When
you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, til it
seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up
then, for that is just the place and time the tide will turn. When
you're down to nothing, God is up to something. The faithful see the
invisible, believe the incredible, and then receive the impossible.
Where liberty dwells, there is my country.”
Benjamin
Franklin
I truly have no words to
offer that could possibly improve that statement. I am still a
believer in spite of the last two years of ugly acrimony in this land
of the free and the home of the brave. I hope for the best, whatever
that may be. I stand in the assurance that our form of government is
strong, and will carry us through whatever trials may come. I am
happy that the people who voted for Mr. Trump feel heard, feel they
have an ally in government, that they will be the focus of his
attention for the next four years. I have seen the empty factories,
the blighted landscapes, the sad faces. Alabama ranks almost at the
bottom of the fifty states in educational outcomes. There is still
illiteracy and ignorance here. So, I truly hope that some of the
policies being espoused by the new administration will help people in
need.
On the other hand, the
inner-city of Birmingham is not a hotbed of drugs, crime and
crumbling infrastructure. It is a thriving, happening place. I have a
hard time seeing the scene of dissolution described by Mr. Trump. The
inner city here is being revitalized under democratic leadership.
It's not perfect—they fight among themselves, but they are somehow
getting the job done. The democracy is safe. Just this week, I was in
a multi-cultural, ecumenical, planning meeting of sixty-five or
seventy people, Faith in Action Alabama. Christians, Jews, Muslims,
black, white, rich, poor, all working together to support just
causes—right here in Birmingham, Alabama, the historic hotbed of
civil unrest.
I refuse to go down the
path of cynicism and hostility. I think pessimism is as poisonous as
arsenic. It pollutes the heart, soul and spirit. I love the line in
Benjamin Franklin's quote above that says, “When you're down to
nothing, God is up to something.” We may not be able to see it in
this new administration, but I do believe we will see it in the
American people.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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