By Susan Lesh
As I write this, we are experiencing the “dog days of summer” … hazy, hot, and humid! It’s been a restorative summer for me. I’ve spent time with my sisters, brother, and father on a road trip down to Florida and back home. We talked a lot about the extended camping trips our family took when I was growing up, always in the month of August. We traveled mostly to the Atlantic Ocean, because my mom loved the beach, but we also had several long trips out West, exploring the National Parks that were so different from our East Coast. My dad, a minister, always took the month of August to be truly away from the pressures of his work. I found my road trip, three weeks away from home, also a welcome relief from work.
Our Ethical programs have continued through the summer, with the more informal discussions around a circle, and have been wide-ranging in their topics. The Socrates on Sunday program voted to discuss “how to keep optimistic with today’s news.” It was a terrific discussion that yielded some practical tips that people use to not be overwhelmed, as well as to maintain motivation to “fight the good fight.” In light of that topic, I began reading Paul Loeb’s 2014 collection of stories and essays “The Impossible Will Take a Little While.” He quotes Adrienne Rich,
“…My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed.
I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,
with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.”
I am lucky to have found you, my Ethical community, and am glad to have cast my lot with you to reconstitute the world.
Susan Lesh is president of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County.
