Thinking Out Loud

Today’s Challenges Will Vanish

In her work, Optimism, Helen Keller writes, “If we compare our own time with the past, we find in modern statistics a solid foundation for a confident and buoyant world-optimism. Beneath the doubt, the unrest, the materialism, which surround us still glows and burns at the world’s best life a steadfast faith. To hear the pessimist, one would think civilization had bivouacked in the Middle Ages, and had not had marching orders since. He does not realize that the progress of evolution is not an uninterrupted march.”. P. 27

NOTE: Helen Keller’s essay, Optimism, was written in 1903 and published in 1904, well over a hundred years ago. Yet, in reading this passage it feels as if it is describing our current circumstances. The passage should give one hope that the  struggles of today will be conquered. We will grow stronger to face a new set of challenges in the future. Yet, we should have no doubt that the human spirit will survive and thrive and that good will ultimately prevail.