Time Marches On

Indeed, it does. Sometimes marches, other times piddles around, most of the time running.

And so it goes. One day you are 8 years old, the next day you are 68, then 78. Soon it will be 79. Meanwhile we do our thing, day after day. We take stock of what it means to be alive and what lies ahead. We are aware and anticipating.

We plan. We arrange. We do. Magically the days follow one another. In our days, the landscape does not change much. Oh, a vacant lot gets a new building; that’s a big thing! But the grass is the same, the trees, shrubs and flowers remain in place for the next growing season. Snow is present today, but soon it will be gone and greens will appear.

We watch life pass in our kids and their kids. We greet neighbors daily and note subtle changes. We are now more attuned to the pandemic routines and how it has made us eager to see and mingle with others. This family has a new baby, this one a new high school student, and that one, yes, that one just over there, has a new college student.

Change. Happens. We see it. Think about it. It matters in little ways and big.

We note changes in the world that may affect us. Ukraine matters. I know Ukrainians. Here in Chicago and around the world in the credit union movement. Some of them have been my clients. I wonder about them and their families. I wonder how another country can be so bold as to destroy, invade and wrest control of another country. Give in and save property and possessions. But giving in means loss of freedom and self-determination. And self-esteem. I wonder about what lies ahead for my kids, and grandkids. Ukrainians wonder what will happen today and tomorrow with their kids and grandkids.

Stark difference. We have a future. They might not. Certainly not what they had wanted or thought they would build. Time marches on for them, too, unless an act of war just happens to their house with rocket fire and bombs. Then time stops for them. Permanently.

Have we thought about this for our own lives? Do we think these things we read about in the paper matter for our future? Do we. Seriously?

I don’t think we do enough thinking about these things. If we do, republicans would be thinking and acting differently than they currently are. Trump would not have been loosed upon our government. International affairs would not have unwrapped as they have.

But it is not too late for recalibrating and moving forward together toward a shared vision of what we Americans want. Exactly what would that look like? Will we be willing to do the work for it? Pay for it? Change for it?

This is a serious question. Only serious answers need be offered. And very soon.

March 1, 2022

 

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