What is it about courteous conversation, about respectful police work, about telling the truth that matters? Today cruelty has replaced decency. It is the new reality in our midst.
In absences we discover what is important. Awake in the darkest night, I cherish the sun. Without daylight, the world is full of demons, robbers and stuff to trip over. So it is with the absence of decency.
Today cruelty covers our airways thick as the dark of a moonless night. Our parents taught us decent people habits: don’t hit your brother; tell the truth. Until now that was the way of the world.
Today our president and others toss out insults like candy from a parade. Today masked men on the federal payroll wreak violence. Today we are told truth is something to twist at will. Even justice is malleable.
Still, I look at the people in my life. They continue to reach out to one another. A neighbor saw me on a ladder and came to help. A homebound friend has a list of folks bringing food. I can trust these people. They represent what still counts. Certainly, they will outlast the world’s chaos.
Wherever decency is absent, may it’s beauty, it’s importance, and the small moments of its presence shine more brightly. We hunger for it. Best of all, we continue to act decently while waiting in the dark.
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