Sanders

I was flipping through old notebooks last night, looking for lyrics to a song that I hadn't played with in years and wanted to finally finish (that last verse I could never get down had come to me in the shower that morning), and I came across a quote I had written down a few years ago. Something from Scott Russell Sanders, something I'd found in an NWEI study book called Choices For Sustainable Living. Couldn't find those old lyrics, couldn't finish that song, but the quote, made me think of my brother, who is currently finding himself in Portland. It reminds me of something he recently wrote, if not in content exactly, then in spirit.

All is manifestly not right with the world. The world, most of us would agree, is a mess: rife with murder and mayhem, abuse of land, extinction of species, lying and theft and greed. There are days when I can see nothing but a spectacle of cruelty and waste, and the weight of dismay pins me to my chair. On such days I need a boost merely to get up, uncurl my fists, and go about my work.

So much in life seems to me unauthentic, I cannot afford to let the genuine passages slip by without considering what makes them ring true. It is as though I spend my days wandering about, chasing false scents, lost; then occasionally, for a few ticks of the heart, I stumble onto the path.