Goodness and Mercy

These are the times that try men's souls,” said Thomas Paine, American patriot.

That has never been more true than right now, when America's soul hangs in the balance amidst a terrifying pandemic layered over a seemingly endless, soulless stream of evil from the very symbol that has long meant American democracy and decency, the White House itself.

America has been ripened for the horror that is Donald Trump by a growing sense of entitlement and selfishness that is daily manifesting itself in so many dark ways: a maskless rally of a quarter million motorcyclists, young people wagering on who gets the virus first, beaches and bars chockablock with uncaring, maskless revelers whose first responsibility as they see it is to themselves and their pleasures.

This is a sick, deluded aspect of America, aided and abetted by sick and deluded politicians who see their first responsibility as being to the bloated toad who is directly responsible for America's shaming before the world. This monster has created a coterie of blind, uncaring mini-monsters who will open the schools to endless sickness, send their police forces to gas and beat legal protesters, and bow to every whim and madness of Donald Trump. 

America's soul is beset minute by minute by these terrible curses, and their seeming power and resilience are cause for fear and hopelessness. Almost half of Americans say that their mental state has been altered for the worse by what they see in the country. I admit that I was on the verge of this precipice before an act of nature restored so much of my faith in American goodness and mercy.

My sister Ellen will be 80 years old in two months. Earlier this week, she was in her mobile home, safe and secure with her two treasured cats, riding out a near-hurricane storm.

Then, in one shattering instant, came a deafening roar and her porch dissolved before her eyes and she heard half of her roof ripped away as a tornado shredded her life, leaving her basically homeless. 

Then America stepped up – the fine and caring America that is our true heritage. The office of emergency management sheltered her in a rescue vehicle and then transported her to  a pricey hotel in Ocean City, New Jersey, paid for by the township in which she lives. That hotel, the Port-O-Call, and its staff went out of their way to alleviate the trauma that had left her basically in shock. Bless them.

The Red Cross sent a representative to the hotel with a cash voucher. She is a retired police detective and the Fraternal Order of Police came through with envelopes of cash and checks from its members who heard of her tragedy.

Through all this, what haunted Ellen was her cats and their safety. In the park where she lives, her neighbors and management found them cowering in the home, which thankfully is intact inside. Linda Gentile, who runs Animal Control in her township, made it her business to stop and feed and water the cats every day.

As Ellen's stay in the hotel ended, her friend Karen called to offer her a room in her North Wildwood condo. She is there now. She will pick up the pieces of her life. She is strong. And this strength is the true strength of America, based on goodness and mercy. 

It will prevail. It must.