Changes under Obama are inspiring to reader

To the Editor:

That the changes occurring under the leadership of Barack Hussein Obama inspire hope, not fear, for me compels response to Dale Covert's Letter to the Editor ("Leadership making reader uneasy," Jan. 6, 2010).

I have given his words much more than a "second thought."

Mr. Covert wants to make a difference, and has the courage to say so. I honor his willingness to express his fears publicly. I reply, not to change his mind, for I can only change my own.

But, we both want to leave a life well spent, and a better world. We experience disease at what we see. We share mutual concern for the world our children inherit. It is distressing to feel so "insecure" about "what is happening to our country."

America is doing poorly. Her most powerful institutions prove untrustworthy. Only the wealthy can afford wholesome, cruelty-free, food, preventative health care, dying at home.

Our children have lifestyle and aging diseases. We deplete the earth and mistreat her creatures. Seventy percent of us are overweight. We are at war. Those who profit perpetuating fear continue, regulated or not.

We grieve our nation, and our pride.

It is said, "No leaf turns brown without consent of the whole tree." We are not innocent victims of external forces beyond our control. We participate daily. Any decision based on fear contributes to a world of fear. Each one of us is responsible, the nation our mirror at the end of the road. How can we die, leaving this mess?

We feel the pain of guilt, anger, fear and powerlessness. For anesthesia, we blame.

No one person can be held responsible. Overlooking politics, as Mr. Covert requests, reveals Barak Hussein Obama as just a man, same as us, doing the best he can. True freedom comes with recognition that all people, everywhere, experience fear, and joy, the same as we do.

We're all in the same boat.

Every language has a word for that which connects our apparently separate forms. Whatever life force we breathe, we all breathe. Like it or not, we literally are each other, intimately bound.

Scientists verify the Golden Rule as natural law. What I do for myself, I do for others.

Remembering that interconnectedness, unity, not identification with a political party, is our strength. We are leaving our children unprecedented challenges. We empower them by the way we live the rest of our lives.

Bitter or better ... I see no other way.

"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

Bless you!

Marian Patience Harvey

Roachdale