A Glimpse of Better Times

 There were some tough times.

That was inevitable with how history flows - it's not always a smooth course. There are always steps forward and steps back. You just have to hope you're lucky enough to live in a time when the forward steps exceed the backward ones.

Finally, in the deep twilight of my life, I feel blessed to have seen us progress towards a brighter future.

I thought we would never get a handle on global warming. And we didn't. Not completely. But it's nowhere near as bad as it was in the late twenties. We finally did the right things, moving to renewable fuels and taking better care of the Earth.

Sadly, poverty still exists. But very few live in starvation and misery, and we've ended the Age of Billionaires. Population peaked and stabilized, and we've learned much about sustainable agriculture.

In 2033, we finally gained true universal health care, thanks in large part to the efforts of President Ocasio-Cortez and the Progressive majority. Electoral reforms, such as the elimination of the Electoral College and ranked-choice voting, universal voting registration, increases in the Congressional delegation (Senate and House) based on population, the outlawing of legislative gerrymandering, increasing the Supreme Court to 13 (matching the number of circuit courts) and limiting their terms to 18 years, all of these increased the democratization of the American experiment.

Education flourished as public universities were made free, and critical thinking skills took preeminence at our public schools. Public libraries became central, parks were prioritized, and urban planning was implemented to beautify many cities, including the blooming of urban gardening.

People were free to love who they wanted. Gender and sexuality were a brilliant rainbow. Diversity was respected and enriched us all. We were no longer a white majority country, and except for a stubborn few, that made the country richer, more tolerant, and more loving.

With the essential safeguards in place, people felt more secure in becoming entrepreneurs, pursuing their dreams, and making the nation a rich patchwork of businesses and enterprises.  

At times, it looked like Christianity would be a thing of the past. But once the domination of the Christian Nationalists was broken, the Christian Progressives took center stage, and now Christianity is stronger and more purposeful than ever. The power of love and inclusivity, the desire to bring us closer to heaven on Earth, proved to be more potent than the power of hate and exclusivity.

As I sit here, on my porch in the Catskills, overlooking the beauty of nature, here in 2113, I look back to the early days when I was a child and my parents who fought so hard to end the country's teetering toward fascism, and the remarkable turnaround that began with the election of our first female President (amazing to think that it's been almost seventy years since our last male President), I see a world that is far from perfect but is so much better than it could have been.

God bless President Harris, and god bless all who voted for her. You made my world so much better.

Love to all,

Pastor Retta Strait