The things we knew and valued are not gone but have changed. Some for better most, as us older folks think, for worse. There are values which are or at least seem to be timeless. Kindness, Manners, Boundaries, A person’s word, Listening, Not Judging, Respect and most of all Love. It appears many of these values have been swallowed up by Selfishness and Greed. Many of us have lived long enough to have seen it all. I think many of us grew so tired of the constant attack on goodness that we just retreated partly for self preservation, partly for impotence in the face of the overwhelming power of moneyed folk driving the attack. We are frail, we are human and we are flawed. We are also strong, we are good, and we live to serve those we love. There is HOPE!!

Truer words have never before been spoken on this site. Thank you, Greywulff. I have long admired your forthrightness, and often obscure, but 'spot on' wit.

This particular thread has been rather revelationary, in that some of the observations of others, some that I would not have expected, but certainly welcome, that have spoken out on this judgemental parse that seems to have wider observance than I could imagine.
My personal diatribe with Randy is well-known, if you have been on the forum very long. Kinda sad, since we went to high schools not far from each other and he lives in Lawrence, where my sister lives today.
His defamatory statements (several times, aimed directly at me, and a couple of times, actually at my late United Methodist minister Father !) have long been the bane of my participation in this forum....a most un-Christian behavior by Randy, to be certain.
To constantly harp on folks for not embracing YOUR RELIGION AND WORLD VIEW, is simply narcissistic and narrow minded....nothing less, nothing more.
I thank those that were perfunctory in their stances against such....bigotry......let's call it what it is.

I have memories of when the subjects of the opening of this thread were of the utmost importance among "men of worth", merely in order to maintain normal civility. That would be my "wish we could go back" thought. But obviously we cannot.

So we adapt, accept others' "failures of our mind's-eye expectations", and above all, continue to strive to be the loving, hopeful, "honest to the point of recklessness" people, that we not only wish to be, but are in fact, actually ARE.

Good luck to us all.