A few rants and a reflection

The news that another novel by Harper Lee will be published and released in mid-July made me say, “well, what have I been waiting for??”

Speaking of the new novel by Ms. Lee, I am at once excited to read the new book and at the same time troubled as to whether or not this is something Harper would want. After over a half century of holding fast to her position that she would never write another novel and then within months of her older sister passing on the second novel is passed through….hmmmm.

Today, 7 February, is a big day for writers as it’s the birthday of Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis and Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’d bet my lost Super Bowl wages (run the ball, Pete!) that each of us has at one time or another read something by these authors.

Dickens is revered as one of the greatest authors in the English language and was also reported to use his finances and fame to convince the wealthy in England to give of their money to help the poor. That, little Dickens!

I may be a bit grumpy, yet, I am incredulous at how self-centered and self-obsessed our society has become. Hover parents refuse to get their kids vaccinated without thought nor care for the numerous children on the block, in the school or at the park. A woman talking on her cell phone speeds through a crosswalk without even a tap of the brake or a notice of the elderly couple crossing in the middle of the street. A bus full of people cuss out the bus driver who stops on a cold, snowy morning to pick-up a person waiting at a bus stop who also happens to use a wheelchair.

I’m a big supporter of the concept of the shared common good. Or, to put it another way, we are, whether we choose to realize it or not, in this together. I worry about the lack of compassion and empathy for persons whom we do not know because they do not traffic our neighborhoods, schools, faith communities, gathering places. Not only is their no concern, there is instead blame and disdain. (See Nicholas Kristoff’s recent columns in the New York Times).

Friends, the “I got mine (or inherited mine) good luck getting yours” philosophy of economics and community building is destroying both. Martin Luther King stated, Life’s most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?”

Answer well. Live better.

sj;