We find ourselves in a surreal nightmare. This was a stupid, unnecessary loss, caused by misinformation and carelessness and apathy, and the consequences will be dire. Now we must watch helplessly as our new ignoramus-in-chief dismantles all the progress made over Obama’s presidency. It’s tragic, it’s heartbreaking, it’s maddening. I’m still processing it. And I need more time for that.
But I’m ready to start looking for hope within the gloom. I was reminded today that Gandalf can be a good source of positivity in dark times.
“There are other forces at work in this world besides the will of evil.”
That’s a pretty good quote. And here’s another one, a quote from the abolitionist Theodore Parker:
I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.
Martin Luther King paraphrased Parker in a line in his “Where Do We Go From Here?” speech, which Obama likes to quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
I believe in this. Not in any supernatural force bending the arc of the moral universe, but that it bends. We bend it. Eventually, love and reason triumph over fear and ignorance.
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