Back decades ago I picked up a word that became an ongoing reference point in my life. I was in a sociology class that studied, among others, the work of Emile Durkheim. The word was “anomie.” Its definition of “normlessness” reflects a fluid state of reality.
In recent times I’ve felt that the fluid state was more like Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade” – you know, cannons from the left and right that volleyed and thundered as we rushed into a danger-filled future. It would have helped if significant institutions in my life held steady, but two have not.
My church still struggles under the guilt of sexual abuse and the cover-up by those in authority. My constitutional government, too, has had its problems but at least gives evidence of a renewed focus on its foundation of checks and balances.
Fortunately there remains a core faith in the genuine democratic spirit that spawned the Constitution of the United States. In a greater sense my faith in God has grown stronger as the structure of my church has weakened. There is hope. There is always hope.
CHARLIE STEPANEK
Concord