Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.…
“Where there is no vision, there is no hope,” said George Washington Carver. This current recession, the worst since the Great Depression, has shocked us out of the empty hope for endless free money and replaced it with the dashed hopes of missing money, lost jobs, and less happiness. Stress signs are everywhere, from increased drug abuse and family violence to empty stores, vacant homes, and bankruptcies little and large. Our fear circuits, worn ragged since 9-11, are roused again. Petty crime is on the…