PRESS RELEASE – The November meeting of Taine Club was held at the Wesley United Methodist Church Lounge. Hostesses Jackie Boyd and Vicki Rathbun provided a festive setting with special treats. President Rathbun opened the business meeting with some quotes by Jane Goodall.
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” “We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place—or not to bother.” (Jane Goodall) Secretary and treasurer reports were shared invitations were distributed for the December meeting.
The Taine Club theme this year is “Dare to Dream.” Jodi LaMantia reviewed a book that exemplifies the theme, The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall. In Goodall’s life, she strived to make her dreams come true to make a better world.
She was born in the United States but grew up in England during World War II and lived close to the bombing. She was a lady of strong faith and she also believed in science. Goodall is best known as an anthropologist and primatologist as “the world’s preeminent chimpanzee expert.”
She spent more than six decades of field research on the social and family life of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. She compared her research to human behavior and this caused her great concern about how humans interact and abuse our planet.
We are going through dark times. There are armed conflicts in the world, racial and religious discrimination, hate crimes, political upheaval, climate crisis, greed and social injustice.
Goodall sees the forces raging around us–corruption, greed, hatred, blind prejudice—are ones we might be foolish to think we can overcome.
When she became depressed, she’d think of the amazing stories of courage and determination those who are fighting the “forces of evil.” How much more powerful and inspirational are the voices of those who stand up against evil.
What is Hope? Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I’m not going to do anything about it.
This is the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement. Goodall wants people to realize that their actions, however small, will truly make a difference. The cumulative effect of thousands of ethical actions can help to save and improve our world for future generations.
A turning point in Goodall’s life was the day in 1977 when she was in Paris in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The sun was shining through the impressive rose window and the sound of the organ playing a Bach Fugue, one of her favorites, caused her to see and feel beauty in the world and the reason to have hope.
Her crusade was to encourage people to get together, use their intellect to make change. As individuals we make a difference every day and millions of our individual ethical choices in how we behave will move us toward a more sustainable world.
There is great hope for the future in the actions, the determination and energy of young people around the world.
They need support as they work to make their world a better place. Goodall encourages us to rise to the challenge, inspire and help those around you, play your part. Find your reasons for hope and let them guide you onward.
The next Taine Club meeting will be a Christmas luncheon on Monday, December 8, 12:30 PM at Wesley United Methodist Church Lounge. Helene Moog and Georgetta Kuhman will be hostesses. Pictured are Vicki Rathbun, Jodi LaMantia, Jackie Boyd.