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There are those who will claim for various reasons that this is it; the end is near, tomorrow it’s over. If one really believed that, one might as well jump off a bridge or go sit on the railroad tracks. Many are depressed about the path of things but are not ready to give in completely, for there seems to be a basic optimism in all of us; today is cloudy, but the sun will shine tomorrow. There is reason enough to be pessimistic, but there is more to the picture.

The optimism that has been with us up through the end of WW11 has pretty much faded away today as we look at the failure of gun control, political disorder, environmental pollution, war in every direction, deceit and corruption all around and other factors. A lot is going wrong. There are lots of different explanations, but few think the world is better today than yesterday.

But why not? We all want the world to be a better place. No one really believes there is Utopia ahead, but why can’t things be a little better at least? 

Well, start with yourself. Are you better today than yesterday? Have you forgiven someone who was rude to you?  Have you given some of your treasure to some non-profit somewhere? Have you been able to be patient when your body and mind are pushing you to be impatient? When you think about or actually say something about some disgusting person, maybe a new colleague or a new neighbor, would Jesus need to remind you to take the log out of your eye before you lose your patience?