Longing

I heard a story Thanksgiving Day. It related to an elder sobbing about things in the past and the missed tomorrows. Age provides backdrop to much. All to think upon. One that affects me the most is how the current news portends a loss of what we valued most in the past. Some of that past is nearby. We hoped for much, worked hard for it to come to pass, but as we gaze on current events, we realize how far off our thinking has been compared with so many others.

Democracy allows much good to happen. But it often blocks good things, too.

There are those who simply don’t get it. They think individual human beings should be in total control of our society. They don’t trust government. Yet they do. Of course they do. They expect the police to come when called. They rely on fire departments to save their lives when fire threatens their very homes. And yes, fire departments save more lives via EMT services than fighting fires directly. Just think about that. Emergency medical services and ambulance responses are the cause of maybe 70% of calls to the fire department.

We expect military forces to protect our homeland at all times. We expect teachers to hold classes, too, and shepherd our kids through 13 years of public education. We even expect public universities to continue that education right into and through career preparation for the life of the student.

We also rely on Social Security to fund the basics of our retirement. We trust that medical care will also arrive in time through Medicare and Medicaid. 

Throughout our lives we just know that public employees of all sorts of government entities will fulfill their duties and serve our needs. Yet we know that much remains to be done. So many people have so many problems that need solutions, government can and should help with engineering those solutions and delivering them to those in need.

There is nothing wrong with this thinking. There is a lot to do and accomplish by profit seeking corporations and individuals alike. Entire careers support these efforts, and we all earn our living with some of this work. Some of us even spend entire careers working for nonprofit organizations. 

I guess I am one of those who long for a more perfect union of our fellow citizens. I long for a more perfect trust in our common efforts to accomplish good things. I am buoyed by the knowledge that most of the people I know have done and continue doing the work of the nation. Even if some government agencies fail to do their jobs under current leadership, I know that others will voluntarily form nonprofits to do the work needed by the rest of us. That is the America I know and love.

I trust it will continue. In fact, I know it will continue. My longing informs me of this well into the future. My life will not have been in vain.

December 3, 2025