Moms, Family, and Hope

This Mother’s Day morning (fyi not Mother’s Day in Argentina) I spent reading on a park bench with a cool, fall air filling my lungs while floating church music and shouts and ball sounds from a small-sided soccer game entertained my ears. My eyes read about justice- how in the 18th century there developed a distinction between interstate and international justice, which has led to a different sense of justice within a state versus between states. I would fit into the minority camp of those who believe in a cosmopolitan or world justice with human solidarity. However, this author, Hudley Bull, argues that our current international society, with all its norms and institutions, is incompatible with the demands of world justice… How mutually exclusive must they be? It intrigues me to think about his point that our conception of what is and is not “just” has indeed been transforming (colonization is no longer legitimate, for example), and therefore it is not silly to hope for positive change. We’ve got to believe…

One reason I believe so strongly, and especially want to share on Mother’s Day, is the strength and beauty of family I have, from my parents on down to each cousin that inspires me. It is no mystery why I have an idealism and hope so deeply entrenched in me… what I consider to be an ideal—nuture, support, constant and unconditional love—has been with me in reality. Why I have been so blessed is and will always be a perplexing question to me as I consider the endless situations of children who have been deprived this nurturance. Meanwhile, I give thanks, and anchor myself in this strength as I continue on…

Happy Mother’s Day to Alice Elle and all others...

ps- An important article… http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/books/review/14wright.html?pagewanted=1