Hope, Help, and Spirit

A few quiet thoughts this morning.

I had a wonderful experience at my niece and nephew's confirmation this past weekend in Connecticut. The Bishop that did the Mass was very inspiring as he spoke about the presence of the Holy Spirit and the confirmants' responsibility to use that strength to offer hope and help to others for the rest of their lives.

That message had me appreciating my own Catholic upbringing and the sustaining power of that message. I suppose it is not surprising I do the work that I do. One need not be a Catholic or indeed even religious at all to appreciate the concept of the holy spirit, a belief about inspired fortitude and interconnectedness that I try to capture in one fifth of my RCR mission statement:

"Our spirituality tells us that goodness passes around the globe from one person to the next and consequently every human encounter has eternal significance."

That had me further refining the ideas that I have for a book that will focus somehow on envisioning a culture that prevents depression and breeds happiness. I am interested in promoting a communitarian option (not left or right) that could become a template for social, political, and institutional change. Yes, I am thinking big. One of these days.....