Winds of Change and Shifting Sands

We find ourselves engulfed in a sea of changes: political corruption, business mismanagement, stock market declines, reductions in health and other social programs, and the ever present spectre of war in the world. In the face of dwindling employment opportunities, lower wages, rising costs for everything, including higher education - our young people are often discouraged, disillusioned and demoralized. Those of us approaching retirement may feel the same way, as we watch our investments shrinking instead of growing, our pension benefits being reduced in one way or another, while at the same time our capabilities are diminishing, and opportunities for re-training and re-employment approach zero. Expectations we once had are seen to be based on very shaky foundations. We believed that we could all make it if we worked hard enough, did our homework, got a good education, knew the right people, played our cards right, and didn't rock the boat! In this process we learned self-reliance, creative thinking, positive thinking, how to be a team player, and self-judgement (including self-evaluation). So when our house of cards collapses (as inevitably it does) we are bereft. We are full of self-blame, guilt, shame, and eventually anger, blaming of others, feelings of victimization, and for some, feelings of revenge and then acts of violence. This is and has been our human story. My friend and mentor Kathleen Macloud, for over twenty years up to her death in 2002, gently and lovingly taught me about God's love for me. This is a very different story - one of hope and strength and healing. We do have a choice. We can keep on doing what we're doing that isn't working (a definition of insanity), or we can start to build our lives on a solid foundation - a spiritual foundation. That is Kathleen's story. This is an "owner's manual" to show us how to find our way back to God. Karen E. May