Every person has inherent worth and dignity. Every action of every person, no matter how misguided, is undertaken in the effort to fulfill a legitimate human need.
When we cannot bear or acknowledge our own fears and hatreds, we see them in others, projection at its worst, not recognizing that those persons are serving as mirrors. These aren’t my ideas, I’ve gleaned them from multiple wisdom sources. Like “love your neighbor,” “turn the other cheek,” and “do good to those who harm you,” they are easy to accept in the abstract and hard to apply in the concrete.
As a citizen concerned about the recent actions of Clark County Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke, and the potential effects of state Sen. Don Benton in the role of director of environmental services, I puzzle over how to exercise my civic responsibility while keeping true to those precepts above. True progress depends on it.
Patty Page
Vancouver
