Today was a long work day and tiring, but I had the treat at the end of going out for Mexican food with Joanna and KK, who had just finished ballet class. It was raining out as we soaked in the rich smells and tastes of a warm restaurant - a good way to end a busy day.

A friend on a my half century club message board asked what we saw in the world today that gives us hope for the future. I appreciated the question. Sometimes it is easier for me to feel overwhelmed than hopeful. I do feel hope pased on the progress that has ocured in civil rights and rights for women in the decades of my adulthood. I believe that a higher percentage of persons is more open to diversity in many aspects of life style (though a minority is intensely closed to diversity) than in past decades. I am a person who generally sees hope on a small scale, individual by individual. The clients I see at work, people dedicated to growing past losses, contributing what they can to the world, hoping and thriving, give me hope. The students Bob teaches and their parents, many of them first generation Americans, still working on their English, but full of gratitude to Bob for his efforts and interest, eager to learn, striving, give me hope. Today I felt a moment of hope on the bus when a young man sitting next to me was sufficiently mindful to anticipate a need and help the driver ready straps to accomodate a man in a wheel chair who was boarding the bus. The fact that a small convention of dentists has hired my partner Bill to do a seminar for them on wisdom stories with the stated goal that they want to slow their pace and attend to life balance issues, gives me hope. Wonderful writers who continue to tell important stories (Acts of Faith) about our complex and confounding world, give me hope. Watching my grand daughter's gymnastics team work out - the discipline of the girls and their kindness toaward one another, gives me hope. And always, the cycles of the moon and the seasons, the flow of rivers, the butterflies on the milkweed call out to the part of me that wants to hope even against all hope.