Hope in the Ripples

When 150 people filled the hall at Hyde Park United Methodist Church, the room carried more than a discussion of housing, immigration, education, and inclusion. It carried hope. The kind that comes when people realize their voices matter more when joined together. The Stoics referred to this as sympatheia, the understanding that our lives are intricately woven into a larger fabric.
That same truth also lives in smaller, quieter ways. My mother’s 36 years as a school nurse left ripples she never saw. Children who learned, grew, and passed her care forward to their own families. Hope is born in those ripples. It is sustained when we draw our circles of concern closer, strengthen the hive, and trust that even small acts of justice will carry further than we can measure.

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Santorum and His – It Takes A Family

This morning I listened, as I always do, to NPR’s Morning Edition. They interviewed Sen Rick Santorum about his book, It Takes a Family. Clearly, the book’s title is a slam against Hillary Clinton’s book, It Takes a Village. I haven’t read his book, but according to what he said this morning, instead of slamming Hillary, it sounds as if he actually agrees.

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