It seems that we are food-hunting mammals and as such are wired to meet change, emergencies and new conditions. I think that means that we don't do all that well with long-range stability. On the other hand, we do want some regularity and dependability in our lives. Earthquakes that re-arrange our lands ruin our buildings, roadways and dams create too much change too quickly. Sudden changes in the law to make wearing a head scarf in the public schools required of girls and women or to make them forbidden may create too much change too quickly.
Some of today's headlines about the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti and a decision by the Supreme Court to change who can spend what in connection with elections bring this see-saw of change/stability to mind. I am interested in the work of Marcus Borg and John Shelby Spong and any others working on what form Christianity should take in its third millennium.
I admire the current efforts to modify the banking law so that no institution gets so big that its failure would endanger the national economy and the efforts to workably extend health insurance to those who don't have it. Trying to harness the drive for improvement enough to allow for essential change while still giving us all enough stability and reliability is difficult, heavy work without guarantees of success but it is a good way to spend our time.
