Who do I tend to take for granted? What can I do to change this?

Wow. I wrote a whole answer to a different question by accidentally substituting “what” for “who”. I was struck by the line between ‘taking for granted’ or making assumptions, and “having faith”.

There are no individuals that I can think of, as I have operated for some time on the notion that people are complex and not always dependable of meeting my personal assumptions about them and their intentions and potential behaviors. They tend to surprise me still and yet, holding people with a loose set of judgments and as few prejudices seems to be working out fine, and therefore not requiring adjustment.

But as for the larger swath of categories of people, I am learning that I have to step up more than I ever thought before. I need to personally support (donate money) to the organizations that are on the forefront of resisting the current disintegration of civil society. I will not list them, as I have been around here with you all long enough to know most of you would have the same or a similar list. These organizations, and the people who tirelessly work within them, I have absolutely taken for granted and, while appreciative, not felt obliged to lean in with.

As for faith, I do continue to harbor a deep conviction that most people are born good, and seek love and security for themselves and their loved ones. I realize ‘most’ in that sentence is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Watching the various retrospectives of John Lewis I was struck by how he personally chose each day the path of nonviolence as a way of serving those who were against him. He was proven right of course.