The Trees and I

The way the wind ripples through the bare branches of the trees this morning makes them look alive. Are they reaching for something? The constant motion, if you stop and look, reminds us that our machines and our technologies and our organizations are but pale imitations of the greater context where they were made. There is nothing wild in a computer, nothing living, nothing growing. The wind blows and the computer does not bend. This living world, this is where our life is sourced; this the true rhythm. The trees dance, then, and I notice, and between us we agree.

We despise the greed and corruption. We despise the men who stole tax dollars to build a failing highway underneath Boston, and the recently convicted CEO who lied to everyone about his company and left thousands to pay the price with their retirements and savings. We despise the lying alcoholic in the White House who kills and calls it justice, who steals and calls it parity, who runs a government so far away from our founding ideals that Jefferson and Hamilton must be rolling in their graves. We despise the petty, trite, and listless people who collect paychecks for doing no work and then complain about being underpaid; and those who destroy the lives of millions around the globe for want of goods and then complain if anyone says the real word Justice. We are tired of the lies and deception that so many carry as their front. We long for real, true, people. We long for those who avoided the selfishness trap cultivated by this culture, for honesty and integrity and virtue. May I please, in my lifetime, meet a truly virtuous man? This century doesn't appear to be fertile ground.

And so the wind ripples through and the sun rises higher and we beg to the Universe for a sign of change in this frozen arctic of a national culture.