“My” song sparrow has returned and is singing his heart out from the top of bushes. And the Seabury mallard pair are back once again testing the tiny koi pond for nesting. But my heart isn’t in it. I read the news and feel overwhelming despair. This morning I had a strange thought. What if I “converted” to the “other” viewpoint? What if I could believe a more traditional conservative point of view with less  government support for the public good  and more military? Perhaps I could believe that “trickle down” really works if you pad the top with enough extra money. Perhaps I could believe that people who run the biggest corporations know best what’s good for everyone and what’s not. What if I could believe that global warming is a hoax? It might lift my despair if I could believe all that. Maybe that’s why some people cling to those views. It would be easier, more comfortable, to let others run things as they think best. But I can’t do that. I really am a Unitarian Universalist believing in our principles of democracy, justice for all peoples and the web of life which calls us to stewardship not exploitation. Some days these call me to test a new starting place like the mallards are; to rejoice in just being alive like the song sparrow. And so I take a deep breath in gratitude and begin anew the hard work of being human today. ~Blessed Be, Marye Gail Harrison, Board Chair Spiritual Life