Nate Feltman: A call to action for all of us to do better

As 2024 came to an end, I found myself reflecting on the past year and the year ahead. As I did so, one particular holiday card I received this year came to mind. This was not the usual holiday card with the family picture and best wishes for the holidays (although it, too, included a family picture and holiday good wishes). Rather, this holiday card included two messages that resonated with me—one pertaining to our city and state and another pertaining to our national state of affairs.

The holiday card came from Charlie Richardson, a former partner of mine at Faegre Drinker. Charlie is one of the many disciples of former Sen. Richard Lugar who continue to positively impact our city and state. When Charlie gets behind a cause, he is a relentless warrior, expending his time, talent and treasure in furtherance of the cause. Such is the case in his role as co-chair of the Rethink Coalition, a group advocating for the thoughtful redesign of interstates 65 and 70 around Indianapolis.

Those of us lucky enough to call Charlie a friend look forward to receiving his holiday card each year. In addition to entertaining, it undoubtedly includes a serious call to action. This year’s card noted the loss of legendary civic leader Jim Morris. Charlie shared that Jim was his first boss after college and a mentor to him for the next 55 years.

The card included words spoken by the Rev. Chris Henry at Jim’s funeral, which included a call to action for all of us:

“This good man spent his entire life teaching compassion and kindness and acceptance and grace. Urging us to see. To see each other. To see the suffering. Jim said, ‘Nothing good ever comes from demeaning or belittling or being unkind to somebody else.’ If you believe it, if you believe that Jim was right, it is your responsibility to prove that you got the point. Learned the lesson. To reach beyond division and see consensus. To look to the needs of the hurting, the hungry, the sad, the vulnerable, the lonely. To see and respond.”

Henry continued: “What if we honored this man of faith in action by doing what he did? What if we chose gentleness over meanness, cooperation over condemnation, hope over despair, connection over dissension? What if we—all of us—tried to be better?”

Charlie’s card also included words from the Rev. David Owen speaking about the need for national civic engagement. “If we want a more harmonious and just nation, it is time in America for more and more of us to recover our founders’ concern for the ‘general welfare’ or ‘the common good.’ We all have the right and responsibility to care for ourselves, but if that is all we care about, a renewed nation cannot and will not be built. It is not enough for us to care for our own little part or for those who are closest to us. We need millions of people who will care, not for themselves alone, but for the whole nation. I am asking for you to be one of them.”

Two words come to mind from the messages above: decency and engagement. As we look to the year ahead, may we each take the time to try to be better, do better, and as Jim Morris would often say, help those that “could use a boost.” Thank you for the inspiration, Charlie.•

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Feltman is publisher of IBJ and CEO of IBJ Media. Send comments to nfeltman@ibj.com.