Where has All Our Hope Gone?

The late singer-songwriters Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson, and Marvin Gaye penned and sang a song titled “Save the Children” that was issued on Gaye’s 1971 album, What’s Going On.

- Lorraine LavenderSams

“I just want to ask a question: Who really cares to save a world in despair?”

Reflecting on the past year, which will be over 5 days from the publishing of this article, I can’t help but feel a deep-seated sense of sadness. I can touch on where it’s rooted--I can identify my reasoning for this melancholy.

No, it’s not because of the holiday, which at this point in my life doesn’t bother me because I haven’t really celebrated any holiday in 54 years, including birthdays (my own that is).

It’s the climate in which we’re living today. And no, I’m not referring to climate change, though the truth is I believe it’s real, and we’ve not been good stewards of this planet we inhabit. Even attempts at recycling and curbing our digital footprints are half-hearted attempts to make the world think we’re doing something to solve a problem--when, in reality, very little is being done. We should be doing more much more, considering we caused this problem.

The world that we live in today is vastly different from the world my grandparents, parents, and I grew up in. There are some things that have had a devastating effect on our society.

Good manners and civility appear to no longer exist in our society. Rather than address issues or speak to situations that affect us as a nation, elected political officials seem to be extremely comfortable name calling, using family members for mental, emotional, verbal, and spiritual warfare against political rivals, only to drag them through the mud in hopes of gaining some clout and winning.