Time to say farewell to one of our nation's great leaders

My mother, a Kennedy, but not of the Massachusetts Kennedy's, was pregnant with me when J.F.K. was assassinated. Throughout my life my heart felt heavy when I thought of the loss of this man with such noble intent, true empathy for the poor, and love for our nation. He was a man who may have become a great elder statesman. But I was soothed because we still had John F Kennedy Jr., and such potential remained.

Until recently.

In my grief at this new loss of potential, I recalled prose included in a book I had read the week before J.F.K. Jr.'s death. This history book by Thomas Cahill is ironically entitled, "How the Irish Saved Civilization."

When I reread the quote, it seemed so suitable. It reads:

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love."

Reinhold Niebuhr

R.I.P., J.F.K.Jr..

-Sue Britt