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Dear QRI Family and Valued Employees:
I normally choose to convey my sentiments via corporate channels on happy occasions such as holidays, birthdays, and special business events that definitively rise above a threshold of significance for QRI. Yet, what we call the continuum of life brings us extraordinary circumstances that circumvent our norms – the tragic murder of our fellow Houstonian Mr. George Floyd is such an event. His senseless death and the unfolding enormous pain and anguish it has unleashed nationwide deserves reflection as much as our prayers, empathy, and collective wishes for healing. Healing, a seven-letter word, carries a seven-digit relevance in the context of what’s happening in America today. It calls for an honest recognition of what went tragically wrong in Minneapolis last weekend. Our principled and pensive actions as a nation, individually, and institutionally will largely determine the pace and depth of healing so fervently needed. It will happen.
I agree with former President Bush’s recent statement that protests are “a strength” of America and the answers to American problems are found by living up to American ideals. I must say that civility of protesting matters more than ever. Marina and I came to the USA as immigrants nearly half a century ago, fascinated by the very idealism embedded in the American dream and so succinctly expressed in the Preamble of our Declaration of Independence, “…certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (No other government has this explicit and unambiguous commitment, by the way.) Yet these very aspirations were violated and destroyed in the death of George Floyd.
At QRI, one of our cherished values is being model citizens in the communities we serve. One of the best ways to honor the memory of George Floyd is to do exactly that – continue living as model citizens by the outright rejection of racial discrimination, inequity, and injustice – call it out when you see it – and the universal embrace of love, tolerance, and respect for all people.
The words of Marcus Aurelius in Meditations are poignantly worth quoting: “In suffering and sorrow, in the loss of what we held dear, we must remember that what comes to pass is dictated by the universal order, which works for the benefit of the Whole.” The national dialogue on race and citizenship, in which we are all participants, presents a unique gift to honor the memory of George Floyd, as members of the “Whole.” We can and we must.
With good thoughts and prayers for healing days ahead,
I normally choose to convey my sentiments via corporate channels on happy occasions such as holidays, birthdays, and special business events that definitively rise above a threshold of significance for QRI. Yet, what we call the continuum of life brings us extraordinary circumstances that circumvent our norms – the tragic murder of our fellow Houstonian Mr. George Floyd is such an event. His senseless death and the unfolding enormous pain and anguish it has unleashed nationwide deserves reflection as much as our prayers, empathy, and collective wishes for healing. Healing, a seven-letter word, carries a seven-digit relevance in the context of what’s happening in America today. It calls for an honest recognition of what went tragically wrong in Minneapolis last weekend. Our principled and pensive actions as a nation, individually, and institutionally will largely determine the pace and depth of healing so fervently needed. It will happen.
I agree with former President Bush’s recent statement that protests are “a strength” of America and the answers to American problems are found by living up to American ideals. I must say that civility of protesting matters more than ever. Marina and I came to the USA as immigrants nearly half a century ago, fascinated by the very idealism embedded in the American dream and so succinctly expressed in the Preamble of our Declaration of Independence, “…certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (No other government has this explicit and unambiguous commitment, by the way.) Yet these very aspirations were violated and destroyed in the death of George Floyd.
At QRI, one of our cherished values is being model citizens in the communities we serve. One of the best ways to honor the memory of George Floyd is to do exactly that – continue living as model citizens by the outright rejection of racial discrimination, inequity, and injustice – call it out when you see it – and the universal embrace of love, tolerance, and respect for all people.
The words of Marcus Aurelius in Meditations are poignantly worth quoting: “In suffering and sorrow, in the loss of what we held dear, we must remember that what comes to pass is dictated by the universal order, which works for the benefit of the Whole.” The national dialogue on race and citizenship, in which we are all participants, presents a unique gift to honor the memory of George Floyd, as members of the “Whole.” We can and we must.
With good thoughts and prayers for healing days ahead,
