The Pope’s prayer for peace continues “where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony.” This photo of me holding a rabbit in place while my dog stands quietly by could certainly be a picture of chaos, rather than harmony! But somehow, even though I am certain that an adult quickly rescued the rabbit, there is this lovely moment of all three creatures getting along.

Harmony doesn’t mean conforming to one note. Harmony, instead, comes from the blending of different notes. When different voices come together, they can either produce a pleasant sound or cacophony. Right now in the United States, the voices seem to be producing confusion. What might unite us, as different as we are one from another? How could harmony actually come out of the present confusion?

I am currently reading Robert Reich’s book The Common Good. In it he calls Americans back to an ideal, not yet fully realized, of a truly democratic society with equal opportunity for all. He speaks against the self-centered orientation of so much of today’s discourse. Reverend Martin Luther King spoke of this in similar words when he said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” Clearly I cast my vote on learning to live together.