Flag Day

Dull and gray as it may be here in New England, it's still the day we display the Flag of these United States of America to show our solidarity with each other, our allegiance to the vision of our founding fathers as embodied in our constitution, and to remind those serving in the military at home and abroad that their sacrifices are being made to preserve these ideals and to help others find freedom from oppression. These are all ideals, but we know in reality that, as with all things, secular and spiritual, we often fall short of them due to our human condition. At lunch yesterday with a dynamic entrepreneur whose optimism is part of his DNA, we spoke about maintaining that optimism despite the rash of scandals and controversies that exist in high places, in federal and local governments, and despite the povery many experience as the consequence of the greediness of others. It is a gray world indeed, but one created by God the Father, redeemed by his Son, and continually being renewed and made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the root of all optimism. We look for fellow optimists, for those who we'd put on the "good guy" list, and we find many. May our optimism be more "catchy" than the gloom that so easily envelopes the media as the clouds today cover the sky. I always think back to St. Marcellin in post-revolutionary France...a situation as bad, if not worse than the world we live in today. His faith and optimism overcame the darkness and confusion of those times. ours can do the same for ours.
Bro. Rene