Wading in the Light...

Dear Maria,

Sunshine is forecast to make an appearance again in a few days. That possibility becomes my focus since I need not be so eager for the weekly weekend respite or the scattering of holidays from work that mark the calendar. Of course—I hear you laugh—the clouds will not remain with us forever.

Lately, I have noted, cardinals have tolerated sparrows at the feeder, but for all other species, it seems only birds of a feather may feed together.  The bluebird maintains his watch over his home, the noisy hawk again roams the neighborhood, and the squirrels continue to annoy the dickens out of me, but I going with live and let live.

Truth: I do encourage Max to dash out into the yard and send the tree rats fleeing for their lives. Maybe the exercise will make them somehow safer from the hawk, some kind of circle-of-life game where I play villain and helper at the same time. Interesting the mental gymnastics we are capable of performing. Cruel to be kind, indeed.

Yes, I am aware of the murders committed in France, and I have seen the photos of world leaders displaying solidarity in a condemnation of the attacks, but I have also read commentary that celebrates the bloodshed. My thought—and not my first one—is to ask: How does a free society suppress anger and hatred?

The world seems to me mostly populated by a vast majority of moderates, moderates in the sense of living life with a focus on family and friends, doing some kind of work, and generally being about getting along. Choosing life, not death. Choosing light, not darkness. The extremists, to my way of thinking choose death, choose darkness. That, to me, is the war—moderation versus extremism.

Can despair fuel rage and hatred and violence? Of course. Will we ever experience a world free of hatred and violence? I cannot image such a time.

Honestly, the photo of the little girl thrown by her father from a bridge in St. Petersburg haunts me more than the deaths in Paris. More than 60 feet to the water below. One news story reported that she hated the water. How will we ever stop such madness?

Bah, enough! Hug your children. Hug those you love. Kiss one another, and hold hands, and whisper sweet nothings, and smile at strangers. Be kind to one another. Give, hold, repair, share.

Oh, yes, I count on the sun’s return. I must.

Be safe and well and know that you are loved.

Yours, srk