'Touched a Nerve' 

Editor:

Thank you to Jere Bob Bowden for his Sept. 7 column entitled "Hope." The piece touched a nerve for me, and I suspect for others, as well. In a world that is spiraling out of control, a common reaction is to just remain silent and hope it all passes, while inside a gnawing anxiety overcomes us. Bowden himself says that he cannot comprehend what is happening and that, "It's easy to think that we are no longer in charge of our self-created chaos."

How do we make sense, how do we put into words our reaction to the chaotic media messages that pass for daily news? Do we turn away from the news altogether and not speak of it? Do we limit ourselves only to the sources we want to hear and parrot them to others? Either way, many of us feel an unease in our out-of-balance world, a disconnection from stability and order, fear, depression, loneliness, anger, dullness. Failing to find words, we let out a silent scream — reminiscent of the iconic painting "The Scream" by the Norwegian artist Edvard Münch.

Mr. Bowden's voice does offer hope while acknowledging one's anxiety with today's world. "We shall see each other. ... We shall do our daily routines, attend our gardens, do our work, make our music and our art, live out our lives in gratitude for every breath ... Our loving will be a safe haven in the chaos we may all soon experience."

Peter Jain, Arcata