The Thing With Feathers

There was talk this week about "glimmers of hope" and how "the economy has finally bottomed out." This was the good news. The silver lining to the clouds that seem to have been surrounding us for so long. Tornadoes making their traditional springtime path through the Midwest, accompanied this year by wildfires. Pirates terrorizing the open seas and spies wreaking havoc with our power grid. A twenty-two year old pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels was killed by a drunk driver just hours after his father had watched him throw six innings of scoreless baseball. A Sunday school teacher was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of an eight-year-old girl. If there was a way to turn up the glimmers or start down that road to recovery, now would be an excellent time.
Now is the time for us all to come together as a planet for a global version of "The Pollyanna Game." For example, the increase in military spending being asked for in this years budget is requested for things that keep soldiers alive and taking care of them after they stop being soldiers. That's happy news. No matter how you feel about gay marriage, you can rejoice in the effect it will have on our economy: more people getting married means more parties. More parties mean more catering jobs. More catering jobs means more leftovers. People are getting fed. Nobody is going to work that hard on a hydrogen fuel cell car until we're choking on the fumes of the oil that is running out and far too expensive anyway.
This is the time of year that we traditionally look for renewal and change. Learning from our past experience and mistakes make it possible for us to move ahead. If the recent flurry of murder and senseless violence causes the rest of us to pull together and value all of our relationships just a little more, then all is not lost. If every failure can be seen as a chance to get a fresh start, then being laid off is a gift from the economic vortex.
Or, as the great philosopher Opus the penguin once asked, is that a lot of hooey?