This I believe

This I believe. It was a radio show in the 1950's, one in which people - both famous and not - discussed what essential truth they believed in and how it guided their lives. NPR has revived it with weekly on air essays. The first time I heard the show I thought, Hmmm, what do I believe? There were a number of ideas to pick from:

I believe that the slice of bread with jam on it - when it slips from my hand - will always fall jam side down on to the floor.

I believe that no matter which line I pick in the grocery store, it will never end up being the quickest line.

I believe that - no matter how stunning you may be - it is physically impossible to get a flattering driver's licence photo.

What do you think? NPR had some great essays on this theme, examining everything from the power of love through to the concept that you should always go to the funeral. Some really good stuff.

So, flippancy aside, what then did I truly believe?

These runimations coincided with a phone conversation with a very dear friend of mine in Vancouver. After watching the images coming out of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, she was heartbroken and depressed at the inhumanity of it all. How, she wondered, could this happen here? And how could we, as a society, let it happen?

After I hung up, I realized that, somewhat quixotically, I suddenly knew what it was that I believed.

I believe in the goodness of mankind.

Okay, I know I probably don't strike you as a glass half full kind of person. This kind of a revelation in the midst of a hellish disaster doesn't seem to make much sense, but just hear me out.

Yes, it is a basic truism that difficult times show us both the best and the worst of mankind. It is true that there were armed gangs, murderers, and rapists in the hellhole that was the Superdome. It is also true that in those first few days, almost the entirety of search and rescue activities were being undertaken by individuals - many of whom had stolen boats - risking their own lives in an attempt to save the lives of complete strangers. Eighty percent of the New Orleans police force was made homeless when the levees broke, and yet almost 1,500 officers stayed on duty round the clock in order to try and protect their citizens.

Was there looting and anarchy in the streets? Yes. But those streets were the same places from which salvation arrived, in the person of volunteers who brought in food, water and clothing. In Waveland, Mississippi several days after Katrina hit, people were being fed not by FEMA, but by good samaritans who stocked up their trucks in Alabama and just headed for the coast.

Yes, even in the midst of chaos, I do believe that people are basically good. Time after time throughout my life I've trusted to this somewhat pollyannaish ideal, and I've rarely been proven wrong. Tonight on televisions across America every major network is showing the same thing - not a blockbuster movie or the final of American Idol - but a telethon to raise funds for the victims of Katrina. There are many reasons for heartache now, but a loss of faith in humanity? No.

This I believe.

"I believe that man will not merely endure, he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone amongst creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul - a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance." - William Faulkner