Annual Letter: Conclusion

"Imagine there's no countries,
It isn’t hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people living life in peace..."




“You know what my least favorite John Lennon song is? Imagine. At the root of it is some rigorous thinking about the way things could be, but people have stolen the idea and made it an anthem for wishful thinking. I’m against wishful thinking. I hate it.”
--- Bono, 2005







We probably all wish we had the kind of courage displayed in “The Lord of the Rings”, but the deeper question for us is can we find similar strength & inner fortitude to overcome the challenges of every day? To rise above the mundane and live lives not of avoidance and mendacity but of nobility and purpose…to be more selfless and less selfish. “Nobility & Purpose”…is that even possible? Once, long ago yet sometimes not far away, I only wanted my MTV. Now I have so much, yet find myself still wanting more. Are these things among them? Or are they too much to hope for in this shrill and crowded world? I look for it in others and have too long expected failure and weakness, but I'm starting to see that those who find a little faith in themselves can surprise you, given the chance. And giving them a chance can build up that faith in both of you; others around you will start to see hope as well. To live only to serve the petty daily concerns of yourself, or your family, or your tribe or town, is to deny the full potential and expression of the best part of human nature. And to sit only and dream, while others work, is a sin. We need to accomplish, as best we can, what we can, with humility, tenacity, and faith that others will join us.

Thank you for reading this; I hope it made some sense for you and provided some enjoyment. It means a great deal to know that even one person is sharing in our story. Thanks also to those who encouraged and were patient while I knitted this together in my own slow way. Your support is treasured always.

Let me leave you with a quote from the best biography written in many years about a man you all have heard of may not know well. He confronted, in person, the most powerful man in the world, George III; and he founded, as much as any other man, with sweat and great sacrifice, the nation we still so easily take for granted. He is not on the money, few statues exist of him, and he was unceremoniously voted out of office; an office (the presidency) he helped create, by the common people he so well served over his very long life:

'It was among the children of his children that Adams and his words to the wise would live longest in memory. "The Lord deliver us all from family pride," he had written to John Quincy's son John, for example. "No pride, John, no pride."

"You are not singular in your suspicions that you know but little," he had told Caroline, in response to her quandary over the riddles of life. "The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to know... Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. This is enough... So questions and so answers your affectionate grandfather."

Adams had, however, arrived at certain bedrock conclusions before the end came. He believed, with all his heart, as he had written to Jefferson, that no effort in favor of virtue was lost.
He felt he had lived in the greatest of times, that the eighteenth century, as he also told Jefferson, was for all its errors and vices "the most honorable" to human nature. "Knowledge and virtues were increased and diffused; arts, sciences useful to man, ameliorating their condition, were improved, more than in any period."

His faith in God and the hereafter remained unshaken. His fundamental creed, he had reduced to a single sentence: "He who loves the Workman and his work, and does what he can to preserve and improve it, shall be accepted of Him."
His confidence in the future of the country he had served so long and dutifully was, in the final years of his life, greater than ever.

Human nature had not changed, however, for all the improvements. Nor would it, he was sure. Nor did he love life any the less for its pain and terrible uncertainties. He remained as he had been, clear-eyed about the paradoxes of life and in his own nature. Once, in a letter to [an] old friend he had written, "Griefs upon griefs! Disappointments upon disappointments. What then? This is a gay, merry world notwithstanding."

-- from David McCullough's "John Adams" (2001)


I hope for a better world, one in which we believe in powerful, realistic dreams, ones we are able to discuss with healthy skepticism but without cynicism, fear, and weakness diminishing the possibilities and darkening the hope. A society in which there is more to love than be disappointed with; one with nobility and purpose, not just security and performance. A place where someone can look in the rear view and see not just where they came from, but how far they have come, and be a bit more sure of where they are going… a place with prospects and far less shadows and doubt. So back to the road I go; I’ll be heading out there each day, hands a bit tighter on the wheel, looking ahead and looking for that place. I hope to find you there, my friends. All of us are hoping to find you there.

I will provide for you
And I'll stand by your side
You'll need a good companion
For this part of the ride
Leave behind your sorrows
Let this day be the last
Tomorrow there'll be sunshine
And all this darkness past
Big wheels roll through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams
--- Bruce Springsteen