April,17, 2022
By Arthur H. Gunther III
In this especially crazy world right now – “fakakta,” as the Yiddish word well describes, with media focused on the horrors of the war in Ukraine, the killing of children, the raping; in a moment when high inflation is threatening virus recovery; in an hour when corporate profits rise 25 percent in tragedy, calamity, sorrow and greed, the wonder is why the gods just don’t shut down the store and end the earthly run.
Who can fathom the reasons why? What can be seen however is proof positive that if the world goes up in smoke and flame, there should be a safe space for:
* Brave Ukrainians fighting against harm and death to save their nation and culture.
* The Polish people, once under Nazi and then Soviet horror who continue to welcome Ukrainians fleeing from madness.
* The long line of women standing before a Russian embassy in seemingly bloodied underwear, hands tied with rope, bags over their heads, protesting the Rape of Ukraine but also the rape of women everywhere before, now and, horribly, after.
* Subway riders and others in New York City who helped each other after a sick person terrorized a Brooklyn train, shooting at random in the haze of smoke bombs.
* People who quietly give to others in need without seeking attention – “paying it forward.”
* Anyone who sacrifices for others; anyone who fights against abuse, greed, indifference.
Of course the listing of goodness could go on and on; the point is that when this earthly existence ends, whether the planet disintegrates by humankind or nature, the record will clearly show that there was more good than bad. And those who did the right things will exist forever, or there is no reason in all this.
The writer is a retired newspaperman.
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