It is good that Labor Day comes so late this year. We have some extra time to reflect upon what has often felt like a very difficult, even brutal, year for those seeking the common good.

How do we come to terms with a Governor’s veto just last week of what seemed like the best chance of political reform in the history of our state; a new state budget that is shredding our social safety net in Illinois; a national health care debate, that as characterized in this space two weeks ago, has turned "ugly, very ugly"?

It might seem that we should be profoundly pessimistic on all three fronts. I would like to offer just the opposite view.

Governor Quinn’s courageous veto of the campaign finance reform bill last week should be seen not as the end, but potentially as the critical stepping stone to genuine reform. The now-vetoed bill offered only the appearance of reform. Protestants for the Common Good was one of many voices within the CHANGE Illinois coalition that brought this message forward to editorial boards and the broader public throughout Illinois.

To their credit, the authors of the legislation now seem committed to working with the Governor on a new bill for consideration in the fall veto session of the General Assembly. All of us should make clear to our legislators that political reform is a critical issue for the upcoming elections and that we insist on genuine change.

On the state budget front, the question is whether we will be able to gather the political will finally to raise the income tax in Illinois. In the past two months, we have seen the formation, under the leadership of the Shriver National Center for Poverty Law, of the Responsible Budget Coalition: the broadest group of advocates, service providers, faith groups, unions, and other organizations in recent history. You can lend your organizational support on the attached sign-up sheet.

Concerning health care, let us first recall that just a little more than four years ago, the issue was barely mentioned during the presidential campaign. Now it is at the top of the national agenda.

The President’s strategy of beginning with broad debate rather than a fully developed plan imposed from the top down means that when a proposal takes clear shape, it will not easily be capsized in the way that the Clinton plan was in 1992. Our job is to participate as fully as possible as we continue our call for universal coverage.

In these waning days of summer, therefore, I am hopeful, first, because as Christians, this is what we are called to be. It is a hope seasoned always with the realism of 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime: therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love."

More immediately, there are signs that our work is bearing fruit in ways that are just becoming evident. The points of connection are clear as we continue our work next week. Until then, let us enjoy what I hope will be a restful and restorative holiday weekend for us all.