By Glenn C. Thomason

When change stops, we die. The end of cell division in our bodies breaks down the systems in our bodies. Not all change is positive. At 25, I reported my height as 5 feet 11 and 1/2 inches. Now 85, almost all of my bones have been replaced five or six times. I’m now 3 inches shorter. Being shorter is much better than the worse alternative. When our bones stop changing, we die.

Denial of change, failure to acknowledge the causes of change, and failure to make needed changes serve no one well in the long run. A second presidential term for Donald Trump should lead all of us to pray that he is capable of change. To the extent that the office of president determines the direction of change, Trump’s oft expressed values and intentions offer little hope if he can not move from retribution to reconciliation. Blaming others does not advance the process of making needed changes. Often repeated memes are not a workable substitute for sustainable public policies that need to be enacted and funded from equitable sources.

Dare we hope that he will cease to advocate for the expansion of use of fossil fuels? Denial of climate change and the expectation of it’s acceleration doesn’t solve the problem that much of Mar-a-Lago and the associated golf course are only a few feet above sea level at high tide. Expectations of sea level rise and of storm surge at high tide with expansion of use of fossil fuels, deforestation, unrestrained population growth, and expansion of our use of beef in our diets should give no comfort to Trump’s neighbors in Palm Beach, Florida. Can our President make positive change rather than becoming a climate refugee from Mar-a-Lago?

I profoundly hope that President Trump can have a successful presidency by helping to enact a significant portion of the proposals of Kamala Harris. Change for the better keeps us alive.

Dr. Glenn C. Thomason is a retired Presbyterian minister, public school teacher and counselor who lives in Salisbury.