I've been thinking about this word lately for two reasons: first, reality TV is chock-a-block with shows about people going into 'recovery' for numerous reasons and this has led to a society with recovery on the mind. In fact on one of the recent network morning shows, a woman advocating pre-emptive recovery was interviewed.
Of course the second reason, the word 'recovery' is being bandied about regarding our economy. And, just the other day, Mr. Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup and probably one of the smartest people in any room, told a Congregational committee that he believed his industry needed more regulation -- eventhough he believed that his own company was well in hand.
And suddenly these two definitions of Recovery collapsed in my mind. Now, I don't know that much about twelve-step programs, but as I re-call one of the first steps in recovery is admitting one is out of control. --So now I'm wondering if we will be able to move beyond this addmition of lack of control and move on the the second, third and subsequent steps in our twelve step program.
Which brings me to another point, one that literally caused me to tear up over my morning coffee and newspapers. Specifically, it was a report about education in the U.S. and where various states and the Distric of Columbia rank. And that made me think of values. And that made me think about the people in this country who can't get healthcare. And then that made me think about the fearless sons and daughters we're sending to rick their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. --And that made me think about Values again.
And I found myself wondering, out loud, where are our values? What have we done to walk so far away from values that so many of us believe in personally but collectively, They vanish like the fog in my neck of the words as the sun climbs towards its zenith.
In my tradition, we would say it is a shandra that our government, the institution that's supposed to be in our service is such a disservice to so many and a stumbling block.
