During these difficult times, I find myself more and more turning to my spiritual ancestors, champions and friends in a nihilistic world filled with chaos and division. My favorite pop musical influence growing up, the Beatles, wrote : ” When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me preaching words of wisdom : Let it be.”
On our current political landscape, my favorite humorist, Mark Twain, weighs in : ” The true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the NATION all the time, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.”
Channeling George Orwell on Trump : ” He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms — one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the thought police, the stability of the Party depended.”
From my best friend, Terry McGinty, a devout Catholic, on : The Cultural Meaning of Kneeling. ” Kneeling is our most respectful gesture. At a Catholic Mass, people don’t put their hand over their heart, they kneel. This is the case in many religious traditions. It is a clear sign of respect.”
As a humanist, I draw strength and inspiration from them all.