Little Sprouts

It’s not difficult to find bad news. But if we refocus our gaze, it’s easy to feel hopeful. Not in an early Covid-lockdown, it’s pretty outside so I’ll go for a walk. And it turns out, I really don’t want to ever see anyone and maybe I’ll buy some land and delete all my streaming apps kind of hope. But real, sustainable, healthy hope.

Like the eighty year old nurse I met recently who has spent the entirety of her life moving around helping people, arriving in Kansas City in 2019 to work for an organization helping transition recently incarcerated people back into society. Prior to that, she had lived in Uganda for six years, working at an orphanage. She was energetic and delightful.

Or my weekly dose of Sharol from Care Beyond the Boulevard, trading stories about the alarmingly sick people in our midst and learning about ways that we can better care for them. Low barrier shelters, respite care, rehab, we’re all one community in the end. Kate from Cherith Brook makes an appearance most weeks, another fresh breeze of hope.

Or the elderly Nigerian American patient who was surprised when I asked him when the last time he tasted fufu. He laughed and smiled and told me the best place, as his hand involuntarily began rolling the West African staple, ready to dip it in a fresh stew and pop it into his mouth, not chewing. A place on Troost where he said people from all over the city come to feast.

Or last week’s interview with Bill Gates in the New York Times, where he talks about the great strides that have occurred in global health. And his hope for the future. Even in the face of an estimated million excess deaths per year due to US AID cuts. He has accelerated his giving, confident that there will be other philanthropists in the future who will help when his money is gone. And what is needed is big advances in AI driven treatments to eliminate AIDS and tuberculosis and Malaria right now.

Or the new Pope. Truly a pleasant surprise.

There are billions of good people. People who care about others. About the planet. About the future.

All we can do is keep at it. Our one life. Stay healthy. Help where we can. Think big. Be brave.

Holy One, you are steadfast and unchanging. Thank you for your continuous presence, a presence that we can feel when we are quiet and peaceful. Amen

Brandon is a member of Peace Church. He is grateful to have a job that allows interactions with all types of people. People who are endlessly interesting and entertaining.