In Spite of Everything...

"I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains. "
"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they
seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of
everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. " --Anne Frank

I think of this quote from time to time, especially the last part of the last one: "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." I generally think of it for the reason that I am thinking of it now. Someone disappointed me. My heart breaks for another heart that is breaking, and several lives that may never be the same again. I'm kicking myself for believing in human nature.

Then I think of these words.

Childish wonder and optimism -- from a child who saw and experienced unspeakable horrors.

And then I think of these words:

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

So, in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.

(Originally written 11/1/05)