The salad days these surely are not.
Lately, it's hard to have a sunny outlook on life, what with news of our nation's imminent financial ruin, wars and rumors of wars raging around the globe, natural disasters, pandemics, pestilence and the unflinching spotlight glaring on the increasing polarization -- political, religious, ideological -- of our society.
In the words of that great post-modern sage and seer, Jeffrey "the Dude" Lebowski: "It's a bummer, man."
Just such a sense of impending doom and ennui four years ago, not long before the last presidential election, became the unlikely catalyst for a simple-yet-revolutionary movement that could, one small act of kindness at a time, change the world.
It started with a piece of trash.
Matthew Emerzian, a successful music industry executive in Los Angeles, was walking back to his office with a co-worker one afternoon in 2004 when he stopped to pick up a plastic fountain drink cover with a straw in it from the sidewalk and put in a nearby garbage bin.
"My co-worker, who will remain nameless, quickly asked me what I was doing," Emerzian recalled. "I explained what I thought to be the obvious, but apparently I was wrong." To the co-worker, litter simply belonged to the litterer, not to the population as a whole.
"I explained to him that litter and pollution are everyone's problem, not just the person who couldn't find the trash can for their cup lid and straw. He profoundly responded with 'Dude, you're weird.' "
Emerzian, now 38, walked back into his office angry, sad and not a little bit ticked off.
"I couldn't believe that someone could remove themselves so far from the greater good of our world," he said. "Or maybe I just couldn't believe someone could be so narcissistic. I'm not sure. But what happened that day, coupled with the constant chatter at Starbucks I had been hearing for months about why both presidential candidates sucked so badly, I guess I hit my limit and knew I had to do something to change the tides. Thus the idea for Every Monday Matters was born."
Published earlier this year by Thomas Nelson, Every Monday Matters is a small book -- just 144 pages with lots of illustrations -- chock full of big ideas. The book, co-written by Emerzian and Kelly Bozza, has quietly sold more than 120,000 copies since January, making it an under-the-radar bestseller.
The book, and subsequent movement born from it, also called Every Monday Matters (www.everymondaymatters.com), catalogs 52 ideas for 52 Mondays that can make our world a better place. The website offers concrete ways to get involved and make a difference.
"My first thought was, 'What if everyone picked up one piece of litter on the same day. Or 10 pieces. (sic)' The math was easy, yet so powerful," Emerzian said. "There are over 300 million people in the U.S. alone. After thinking of a few more easy things that people could do to make a difference, I called my friend Kelly Bozza and told her I wanted to write a book. Within a week we had over one hundred items on our list and were ready to start writing."
The ideas in the book are simple -- small acts that collectively add up to an enormous impact for the greater good.
Among the 52 actions to make every Monday matter, each with scientific data to bolster its positive effects, are:
• Don't flick your cigarette butt. Throw it away instead. Cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item, amounting to more than 100 million pounds of litter every year.
• Learn CPR. It only takes a few hours. Ninety-five percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital. What if you could have saved a life had you known CPR?
• Have Amber alerts sent to you on your cell phone or computer and pay attention to them. Seventy-six percent of abducted children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction, and 88.5 percent are dead within 24 hours.
• Don't honk your horn. Noise is among the most pervasive pollutants today. Twenty-eight million people have impaired hearing caused by noise.
• Mentor a child. Three million children are currently enrolled in mentoring programs, but 15 million are in need of mentoring. If they don't get it, they're more unlikely to reach adulthood successfully.
• Hug someone. Physical touch is absolutely necessary for physical and emotional well-being. Hugging strengthens the immune system, reduces stress, assists sleep, lowers blood pressure, and is an antidote to depression.
Emerzian's commitment to making the world a better place -- to "heal the world," or tikkun olam, as it's described in the Jewish tradition -- is rooted in his Christian faith, a faith he came to embrace about five years ago.
"I had to learn how to put something bigger than myself in the middle of my world. I started looking at the world differently," he said. "I shifted the focus from how much I can get and put it on how much I can give."
In this contentious election cycle and terribly nervous times, don't lose hope.
Do something.
It's not too late to make every Monday matter.
Even if you start on a Tuesday.
Cathleen Falsani is religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and author of the new book, Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace.