renewal

It could be a time of dark despair. All the news of tainted food, global warming, corporate crime, sanctioned environmental destruction, and widespread human indifference to anything but worship of the almighty dollar, can certainly drive the most devout optimist into a funk.

But I'm not going to go there. I really really believe, or want to believe, that our human assault on the environment has reached a critical point, one in which we finally understand that this stuff is for real, and enough people may have come to that conclusion to make a difference.

But I can't speak for humanity. All I can speak of is my own viewpoint, and for some strange reason I feel very optimistic on this cool breezy spring day. I see the marsh marigolds, pictured above, give their vote of confidence, I see all the trees flowering again, I see the return of the migrant birds. They have not given up hope. And neither will I.

Spring is a time for renewal. The plants renew their age old rites, the birds renew their migration and return to nesting grounds. I renew my faith in humanity, for a time, however illogical that may seem, and I renew my vow to do nothing but good on this earth. And I break that vow, a lot, but the spirit of renewal makes me think I still can redeem myself.

In the words of Wendell Berry, "Practice resurrection."