These are disturbing times! We seem to be living in an alternative universe where 1 plus 1 no longer equals 2. We are being told that there is fake news and alternative facts. Science is being more than questioned, it is being denied. We are even being told that we should not worry because if climate change were true, God would take care of it.

Let me assure you that facts are still facts! Lies are still lies! Greed is still real where people will lie in order for individuals to make money under any circumstance.

God gave us a brain to use. A brain is a marvelous thing if you use it. Having a brain, enables a human being to function at a higher level than other creatures. God will not help us if we do not use our gift, to help ourselves.

It is easy to get discouraged, that too is all to human when we are inundated each day with the our crisis a day President. It is overwhelming! We might even wind up suffering from a new form of PTSD.

This form of stress is totally attributable to too much Trump. I sometimes wonder who will get exhausted first, our fearless leader, President Trump or the American people. We are having to endure not only his tweets but his strange behavior. It is so bad, we might just need a program to try to keep up with what is going on, by listing the issues that we should be concerned about.

Things seem so overwhelming that some people may wish to put their heads under a pillow to try to drown out the news. But so far, citizens, our fellow citizens are becoming involved in politics, many for the first time. Some of our fellow citizens have come out of political retirement to resist what is happening and to attempt to make a difference and actually change things for the future.

We have come through many changes in the last nearly 60 years. The Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Rights, the Environment. Most recently we have seen a sea change in our citizens feelings towards gay rights.

Perhaps we have taken these changes for granted, somehow thinking that we had won and that the struggle for these basic rights had ended. Well, sadly we have seen that the struggle for social justice is not over. We have seen economic uncertainty have a negative effect on how some people view others in our daily lives. It may seem for us that the very essence of our civilization is under attack and that end of progress has begun with the darkest human motives now moving forward. All progress seems to be at risk, in doubt and in danger.

For a moment in time and in history, because 100 plus days does not define who we are and where we are going, civilization seems to be lost. Hope seems to be fading. Discouragement is abounding, and fear for our future is immediate and real.

Groups have been singles out, with bigotry and hate used to denigrate our fellow citizens. If you are Mexican, or Muslim or of a minority, or if you are a woman and even Jewish, threats to your lives are increasing. There is even talk among the masses of having Muslim internment camps. Even the idea of exterminating Muslims has been given credence by the alternative right hate groups.

For some change has been difficult, and those who have felt economic dislocation it is understandable to want to blame others for your struggle. Economic nationalism does seem like a panacea.

These alternative right groups are the ones with guns, who are more likely to use their guns on their fellow citizens.

Life seems to be turned upside down!

But hope has not died, our shared dreams live on. We must endure and persist. Victory is in sight if we only stick together. The election of 2018 is not the only election that we must be energized about. If we are to have another progressive era, we must be resolute in our causes and strong and persistent in our determination to bring about positive change. Civilization has not ended.