Mother Theresa, Grand Prairie Texas, 2011 (Photo credit: Thomas Hawk)

There are moments when many of us are embarrassed to be human – embarrassed by violence, war, overpopulation, child abuse, child pornography, animal cruelty, pollution, murder, rape … embarrassed by the way we treat other sentient beings, and even more embarrassed by the way we treat each other.  And I begin to wonder if we humans are the living dead.

But then, I turn my attention to one good human …

to Mahatma Gandhi, Jane Addams, Jane Goodall, Carol Buckly, Elie Wiesel, Sojourner Truth, Mother Teresa, Rigoberta Tum, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Abraham Lincoln, Lao Tzu, Jesus Christ, Princess Diana, St. Joan d’Arc, Leonardo DaVinci, Oscar Schindler, Dr. Martin Luther King … war heroes, civil rights heroes, animal rights heroes, suffragists,

and extraordinary ordinary people.

They do exist, and through my veil of pessimism, I see them, the heroes among us, the awakened among the dead.

To those of you who give, lead, care, volunteer, initiate change, spread kindness, or do good … thank you.