To the Editor:
This is a prayer and plea to all members of the St. Paul's parish who believe in the sanctity of life.
Please stop the destruction of one of Macomb's patriarchs who has overlooked so any nurturing events at St. Paul's.
The Burr Oak may be arguably the quintessential shade tree. Terminating this giant is akin to cutting Methuselah's days short!!
Please relocate your 'mere' building. Quoting Tim Howe, 'the Burr Oak and planned parish hall could successfully coexist if the new buildings foot print was shifted just 50 additional feet to the west.'
WHY isn't this being considered?? Let's leave a living legacy!!
Dennis and Virginia Samuelson Macomb , IL To the Editor,
For years I’ve heard how a pendulum, after moving in one direction, will move back in the opposite direction. By doing so, it establishes a self-correcting equilibrium. I’ve also often heard Rev. Martin Luther King quoted as saying “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
For a very long time I’ve absorbed these ideas and found them reassuring, especially when the politics of the USA are out of sync with what I believe to be just and equitable. But recently I read Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny (2017), a study that compares fascism in Germany with what is happening now in our country. It’s an eye-opening analysis given the starkness and clarity of his comparisons, but what struck me most forcefully was his exploration of inevitability in his last chapter. Both the pendulum and the bending arc metaphors embody the idea of inevitability, which suggests “everything always turns out well in the end” (p.125).
Snyder challenges the notion of evitability. He calls into question the idea that we are on a path toward ever-greater awareness, stability, and justice. The priorities of our current government also challenge this idea. If we think we will eventually have fair tax and economic policies, and that everyone will eventually have access to secure and affordable housing, safe water, nutritious food, and effective medical care, we need to think again. If we recognize science, research, and education as valuable paths to truth and knowledge and we think they will continue to be valued, we need to think again. If we treasure the earth’s resources and think our country will eventually prioritize their sustainable use, we need to think again. None of this is inevitable Neither is the recognition of the value and beauty of compassion and empathy, or of human life itself. We can lose all of this if we let the current national government continue to undermine our country’s traditional moral values. When Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” we need to remember that he also said more than once “human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals (Birmingham City Jail, i963; SMU 1966). We have our work cut out for us.
Janice R. Welsch Macomb, IL
