A Candle….

…Never burns so brightly as when it is just about to flicker out.

Photograph by Anjo Antony on Unsplash

Another August has come and gone. It’s a month which has had its awful moments in history, the starting of World War I, the launching of the modern era of warfare, the ascendancy of the pharmaceutical industry (“Big Pharma”) and many others too numerous to name.

But this particular August has been especially bad: opening with the mass murders in the El Paso Walmart, in Dayton, Ohio, and Midland / Odessa, Texas, followed by the appalling decision on the part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department to deport people who are here in the U.S. under special visas that allow for desperately-needed medical care. And then, of course, the Amazon rainforest has gone up in flames. The conflagration destroying the lungs of the planet presage the theological destination of our so-called “leaders” who have encouraged the Earth-threatening blazes: Trump in North America, Bolsonaro in Brazil.

In a little over 14 months, on November 3, 2020 the American electorate will have a chance to pass judgment on the presidency of Donald J. Trump. Many voters assumed in 2016 that Hilary Clinton had a “lock” on the presidency, and so they didn’t bother to show up at their polling places. The next election may well be different. There are a number of reasons, but here are the…