This I Believe

Dear Readers,

As an avid NPR fan, I was especially fond of a program called "This I Believe", a throwback to an old Edward R. Murrow show. It's a program where every day American's do a radio essay on the things they feel passionately about; patriotism, religion, grammar, etc. Because I've never been invited to announce my beliefs on national radio, I figured my blog would suffice. So here I go...

I believe there are universal virtues inherent to the the human soul: integrity, loyalty, honesty, kindness, empathy, and love. I believe that every time we lie, cheat, steal, or otherwise intentionally deny these virtue it detracts from our soul and produces a negative energy that not only wears on the person producing it, but that it adds just a little bit more chaos to the world. On the flipside, I believe that when we are selfless, stand for what's right, and try our best to be good people that our positive energy rewards us and adds a little bit of nourishment to the world. I don't believe that a religion can substitute for these virtues, nor that it's virtuous to be religious. There's a sweetness and an ingenuity to a person who is good for the sake of being good, rather than being good for the sake of the influence telling them to be good.

I believe that humankind has the ability to be as great as they choose to be. I believe that people for the most part have good intentions, although they don't always materialize that way. I believe that imagination is imperative to our success, and that education should help it to flourish rather than squander it. I believe in the power of communication, and that many of our world's problems could be solved over a cup of good coffee if we would just take the time to listen to each other.

I believe that pie is one of the greatest accomplishments of human history. I believe that Scrabble is the best board game. And I believe that I have a lot to learn about a lot of things, but not as many things as my sister Andrea would lead you to believe.

And I believe it's time to end this post.

Sincerely,
h.