Winning Words 8/27/09
“I hope for an America where neither ‘fundamentalist’ or ‘humanist’ will be a dirty word, but a fair description of the different ways in which people of good will look at life and into their own souls.” (Teddy Kennedy) I like this quote, not because of who said it, but because of what it expresses. I wish for more people of good will. Is there time or place when wishes do come true? ;-) Jack

FROM R.I. IN BOSTON: I like this quote, and I admire the man who said it. Flawed man that he was, he nevertheless worked tirelessly to effect a better life for everyone in this nation, and especially those less fortunate than he was. He was a true statesman, doing what he could to foster policies whereby government served its people better, essentially creating a place where "wishes do come true." FROM JACK: "Flawed man...." Are there any who are not flawed? ""True statesman...." Not many legislators can be called that.

FROM J.H. IN OHIO: good one... I'll use this with my students today, as we are looking at the "continuum" of environmental beliefs and values. I think this speaks well to the idea of the continuum and how we should go about using these sorts of labels. THANKS for sharing!

FROM S.H. IN MICHIGAN: Fundamentalism is something I struggle with. But appreciate Kennedy's addition of "people of good will". I hope for an America where we have lots of people of good will, fundamentalists, humanists, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, Lutherans, Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, the more people of good will the better. FROM JACK: I like the poem, "Mending Wall."
MENDING WALL by Robert Frost
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

MORE FROM S.H.: I was interested to read in today's New York Times an editorial which pointed out the truth of (today's) Winning Words. On page A27, by Nicholas D. Kristof "Health Care Fit For Animals". He writes about one Wendell Potter who used to be an executive in the health insurance industry, watched Michael Moore's movie, saw himself uninsured people being treated in livestock stalls, and says "It was a life-changing event to witness that," he remembered. Increasingly, he found himself despising himself for helping block
health reforms. "It sounds hokey, but I would look in the mirror and think, how did I get into this?" "Mr. Potter says he liked his colleagues and bosses in the insurance industry, and respected them. They are not evil. But he adds that they are removed from the consequences of their decisions, as he was and are obsessed with sustaining the company's stock price--which means paying fewer medical bills." It seems like looking in
the mirror works and especially finally seems like Wendell Potter could see better how he could use his good will. I found this all very interesting and perhaps you do too.

FROM KZB IN COLORADO: Yes.

FROM MOLINER C.F.:
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

FROM L.K. IN OHIO: Certainly in heaven. FROM JACK: ....Where wishes do come true.