Page 4 - DIVA_4_2007_No.31

• Editorial

Hope

One day, I received a copy of this beautiful e-mail that a friend had sent to some-
body who is a stranger to me. Since this issue of DIVA will be the last one for 2007,
I take the liberty of sharing this striking message with you all and wishing you all a
wonderful New Year in 2008.
Marit

Dear Ursula,
"Are we nuts?" was not my question but the closing of Michael Winshzp's article. However I have a friend here in Geneva, named
Geneva, half native American, born in Okemah, Oklahoma (birth place of Woody Guthrie!), and married to an Iraqi, who repeatedly
asks that question when confronted with the stark reality of what is happening in the world and in the Hew Hess Hay (as some say it
here= USA).

Yes, the situation looks grim at times. However IJirmly believe that one must live out what one believes in and that the more evil seems
to get the upper hand, the more important it is to bear witness to something else. That is what I have always tried to do. Don't expect
others to do good, nor may they even want to just because you are trying to. Just do it. Act out your own principles, otherwise you'll
never be at peace with yourself and, without that sort ofpeace, you're of little use to anybody, including yourself

There is also what Jefferson would have called 'public affairs" -- what we have now down-graded to the status of 'politics ", with the
negative connotation that that carries. Jefferson would have said that the only proper activity of the citizen is public affairs and that
the role ofpublic education is to prepare citizens and civic leaders for participation in the life of the RESPVBLICA. Instead, we now
have education that is intended to do the work of the corporations in training people according to the needs of the corporate world,
while the intellectual baggage they need in order to function as citizens is neglected, when it is not denigrated outright.

We have become a nation of consumers, and the 'job" , instead of being a source ofpersonalfulfilment and intellectual and cultural
enrichment, has become the means ofparticipation in the crass consumer society.

So you find chocolate a source of euphoria in such times? Forget about the chocolate. Save it for special occasions or it will lose its
euphoric effect. Get out and do some sort of volunteer work or something that puts you in contact with the members ofyour immedi-
ate community, something that needs to be done but would not be done ifyou didn't do it.
Stay informed, even -- especially -- when it means confronting the ugly truths about our corrupt, materialistic, violent, war-based soci-
ety.
And don 'tforget the culture, in its highest and lowest instances. The French have the all-time recordfor Nobel Prize winners in liter-
ature, with thirteen to their credit. The only country that can come close to rivaling that has twelve -- the United States!
How many of them can you name? What have you read by them? What are your favourites among their work? How many of their
works have you seen performed?
When the axe falls, the thoughts and ideas needed to confront disaster will not be found at the shopping mall but in the great litera-
ture we have produced. If the proper role of the Christian -- as Jesus is said to have taught it, NOT what a doctrine-obsessed church
teaches -- is the pursuit ofspirituality in a world where our basic human needs automatically drive us toward material considerations,
then this great literature will nurture and inspire that pursuit, not the material clap-trap we are encouraged to run after as ifour iden-
tity, indeed, our very life, depended on it.
even in your own modest way, you won't
Beyond that, all I can add is, "Don't be dismayed! "And fyou're trying to make a difference,
be.
Fondly,
Robert
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