Perspective (by Eileen)

October 31, 2026 Pat Moriarty

I am a genealogy addict.

I’ve researched some of my family as far back as Medieval times. It is exciting, and a puzzle that never ends.

One thing it has given me is perspective on our current times. We feel like now is the worst it’s ever been. We are terrified that our country is being pulled apart.

The fact is, every single era I’ve encountered in my research was fraught with peril, controversy and conflict. I imagine everyone in those times also thought it was the worst it’s ever been.

In the Middle Ages in England, life seems to have been a constant battle for dominance by tribal factions and invaders, with war and pillaging a part of daily life.

Would living with Viking hoards have been an easier time?

In the 1500’s and 1600’s in England and all over Europe, the printing press was causing upheaval as the Bible was translated and people discovered a whole bunch of stuff they were told was true — wasn’t.

The entire fabric of religious life was torn apart. If you didn’t believe what the majority did, you could suffer torture and death, in really gruesome ways.

My pilgrim ancestors were so concerned about their safety and freedom they sailed across the world. Half of those who came on the Mayflower died.

Then, those pilgrim ancestors decided religious freedom was only for them. A lot of fracturing occurred and people left to form other communities in uncharted wilderness. A lot of so-called witches died.

Slaves were used to build the new world and so many native people died from disease and massacre, we really don’t know their number. Was that a better time?

The Revolutionary War pitted family against family. Many loyal to the King had to flee to Canada. Our constitution guaranteed freedom, but only for male white landowners.

Slavery persisted.

I could go on and on. Every moment in history there are conflicts. For that matter, every human community has, and will have, conflicts.

This is not to say it is not worthwhile to protest and work for good. The history of the world is also full of the overcoming of injustice.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.” ― Helen Keller

Over time, we became more enlightened.

Witches are typical only on Halloween and if you want to be Wiccan — go for it.
Religious freedom was baked into our constitution and, by and large, it is a part of American life.
Slavery was ended (after a horribly bloody conflict and rift in our nation).
Civil rights were improved for minorities and women (ditto).
Over time, eventually, every citizen got the right to vote.
Child labor laws were instituted.
Social Security was enacted to protect the elderly.
A social safety net was created to prevent people from starving.
Vaccines were invented to protect children from horrible diseases, disability and death.

Now we have hospitals, parks, libraries, electricity, clean water from the tap, public schools, paved streets, and thousands of other conveniences and luxuries we simply take for granted.

What all this tells me is that my life is but a flicker in the sweep of history. Justice and love may not appear to prevail in my lifetime. But I’m part of a larger curve of history and must think of future generations. I trust that, in time, the world works toward justice because I have seen the past and watched it take place.

As Keller said – “cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.”