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Editors' Note

Proceed with caution

I have spent the last few weeks asking friends and associates about risks, being mindful that each conversation would yield new perspectives and the revelation of new concerns. People are worried about the future; college savings, investments, retirement funds, job stability and even this summer’s vacation plans.

I am and will remain passionate, diligent and determined to make better decisions regarding the risks I will take. I urge you to proceed with caution, but do not let the current climate cause you to abandon your mission or grind to a stop. It takes me a while to worry. I am, you see, an eternal optimist. That’s not to say that I’m lacking fear, compassion or even understanding.

There is no doubt that the current economic conditions weigh heavily on the decisions that we make and the risks that we take. The changes that are occurring now will impact the things that are happening now and forevermore. Giving is down and needing is way up, but we cannot use today’s conditions as an excuse to starve tomorrow. Sometimes there are greater risks and exposures from not taking a risk, not showing up and not giving. We must all realize that some things remain important no matter what. How cliché but true, “it really could be worse.”

-Antoine Friend, Founder

Risk, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is: a situation involving exposure to danger or something unpleasant.

The definition implies that one can avoid danger or unpleasantries. Not true – life is inherently risky. Danger is ever-present – unpleasantries inevitable. Dropping “a situation” from the description would make the definition more accurate.

We are all risk-takers. Some risk little, hoping to gain everything. Others risk it all, happy to win anything. Wide margins of risk-takers lay between the two, but we are always risking something, and we are continually at risk.

I attended a recital last week at the Baltimore School for the Arts. My daughter sang two solos accompanied by a pianist… she was otherwise alone on the stage. The audience was comprised of family, friends, students, and teachers; the former listening intently, the latter even more so.

She took in a breath, then turned it into music. As I thought of the risk she was taking, I never left the edge of my seat. She moved from one note to another, all strung together beautifully. When she stepped from the stage, I was relieved – and proud. It was as if she were walking a tightrope. At one end, the safety of silence, in the middle, carefully negotiated pitfalls, and in the end, stepping off the stage, leaving danger and unpleasantries behind.

I have risked much over the years, but watching someone I love take risks, four feet off the ground or four hundred, is very different indeed.

–James Evans, Executive Editor

Editors' Note

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