Dearest seniors, you have been handed a curveball that none of the adults in your life have ever had to deal with. We are mourning with you and we are hurting for you. But we also believe in you. We believe in your passion. We believe in your resilience. We believe in the future that you are able to create with this seemingly impossible blank slate fate has handed you.
Reading opens up our world and helps reinforce the idea that we don't know it all, and that it's ok that we don't know everything. When we read a variety of perspectives or books that challenge long-held ideas and force us to defend or even adjust our world-view, we grow as individuals and as citizens. We learn that answers are not easy and the world is complicated and even the smartest people don't have all of the answers and sometimes get it wrong.
We need to do better. We need to care for each other, particularly the weakest amongst us, as we search for the answers that will bring us to a new, better normal. We need to earn the trust of our neighbors, acting in a way that allows them to truly believe that we are acting in their best interests, not just our own. And we need to accept that change is inevitable and help gently guide each other through to the other side.
Being a pro-life environmentalist means you care about the planet because you understand all the ways a damaged earth negatively impacts the health and well-being of your fellow humans, particularly those who are most vulnerable. We prioritize creation care because we understand that a healthy planet is essential for the fruitful survival of the humans charged with its care from the very beginning. We want to see safe environments for all children to grow up in, from the womb on.
People are being forced to do some deep soul searching when they look at their families, their careers, and their personal lives. As a society, we are being forced to look at the social, economic, and governmental weaknesses that most of us have been willing to overlook because they haven't appeared to directly affect us until now. As with all disasters, we've seen both the best and the worst of humanity, but it's the best in humanity that is getting us through and keeping us from slipping into the worst case scenario of our fictional nightmares.
Accepting the Unexpected Journey 