Words of cheer and wisdom in these dark days

On my library table this week, a book from my great-great grandmother, Catharine, published in 1906, “Catch Words of Cheer.” It is a book of quotations compiled by Sara A. Hubbard, a rather stoic-looking woman (her photo graces the opening pages) with long curling ringlets, “granny” glasses and a broad lace collar.

“Catch Words of Cheer” seems an appropriate phrase, a good guiding principle for the future. I search for snippets within the pages, anything offered that might shift my perceptions.

“Whatever is best will come.” This quote, from Henry Wood, seems simplistic, yet soothing. It sets in play the idea that no matter the current course, the greatest good remains somewhere on the distant horizon.

For the truth is, I am not particularly of good cheer. I am angry about the direction my country is, and has been, headed. I am angry about bad and/or twisted intelligence, I am angry about lies and deceit, I am angry about political graft, influence purchasing, corporate scandal, wiretapping, torture, eavesdropping, perjury, money laundering, and thought police. I am angry that breaking the law has become fashionable. And in the face of my own anger, I am tired of feeling afraid, disenfranchised and helpless in the stream of current events.

I’m tired of the play, party against party. What happened to Americans? Inside each political definition are human beings, individuals who are the framework of these United States. Some are gay. Some are female. Some are atheists. Some are white wealthy empowered men. All are bound together -- we have chosen to come together -- with agreements that define our particular flavor of democracy. That all men are created equal. That no man is above the law.

We began our journey with a Declaration of Independence. We fleshed our collective agreements with our Constitution, and in the course of our history, we have amended that proud document. We have used our established checks and balances to refine the foundations.

Ben Franklin once wrote, “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” I find these good fighting words in a climate where fear is used as a rationale for breaking the law, invading sovereign countries and tromping on the Bill of Rights.

Is the threat of terrorism real? Yes, very. 9-11 proved that there are those who seek to destroy our system. Our lifestyle, our very existence offends them.

And what of this war on terrorism we have declared and continue to wage? Those who claimed responsibility -- those who actually came forth and said, “Yes -- we did it, we bombed your buildings with your own airplanes” -- are still at large. They continue to send videos of their messages. They continue to recruit and train new followers.

I find it bittersweet that an administration which touts loudly a desire to rid the body central of the effects of big government, turns the book and seems to say: “Trust us. We know best. Put all the power in our hands, ask no questions, and we will take care of you.”

Yet daily, more Americans die in a land that is not named “Terror.” More mothers weep at the loss of their children -- not just here, but in those lands where American assaults destroy buildings and infrastructures. These are not nameless faces, but the core of their hearts, torn from their lives -- no more to share laugher, tears or the clasping of hands.

This same government -- the one that declares, “A hopeful society expects elected officials to uphold the public trust” -- wants us to believe that they have our best interests at heart. They want us to ignore the fact that they provide tax breaks to the wealthiest and to the best-lobbied corporations, while middle America -- the guts of this country -- bears the brunt of their policies. They want us to ignore seniors without prescriptions, children that are hungry, an educational system that favors the wealthy, jobs that are outsourced, pensions that are robbed. The public trust? Who is the public? I thought -- I think -- it is all of us.

Faith-based governments are the anathema of democracy and, in the end, are doomed to failure. When thinking men cease to access their own moral knowledge, when lies and deceit lose their cover, we stand a chance of regaining our democratic grounding.

This is where my grandmother’s book of good cheer might come in handy. This is where my eternal optimism and my activism have their day. I believe in the best of America which has come to us by consensus, by dialogue, by shared agreements. I believe in human values -- not financial spreadsheets. I believe that each of us has the power to make a difference -- if we are willing to dare.

* Catharine Cooper can be reached at ccoooper@cooperdesign.net.

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