Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Any good news you want to share?

I would like to hear it.

In the past 36 hours, a family friend threw his son out of the house because of political conflicts, and another friend lost his 23 year old son to a seizure. 

Life is too damn short, and we are not promised tomorrow. 

And the news daily confirms that the massive, lowering thunderheads on the horizon are crawling ever closer.

Yes, we have a roof over our heads, income, food, vehicles that...work well enough. And my middle son's team is in the 12-U Little League championship game tomorrow. My eldest is getting regular hours at her job, and my eldest son is tackling chemistry. We have our problems, but we're alive. 

I guess I'm just in one of those Matthew 24:37-39 moods.



5 comments:

  1. Sunset over Lake Huron:

    https://twitter.com/znfrey/status/1297712637975830528

    ReplyDelete
  2. Generally speaking, I'm in a Joe Walsh "I can't complain but sometimes I still do' sort of mood, though today I'm mostly okay. My younger daughter told me last night I suck and she hates me after I made a joke while she was drinking some water. My Jamaican neighbours like to play some kind of killer dominoes in our shared driveway in the evenings. I don't have a car, so they have my standing blessing to use my driveway any time I'm not. Apparently, according to the news, we are supposed to hate each others guts, but we get along just fine. I don't much care for my job, (said he with gross understatement) but I have one. Frodo comes to me for hugs when the mood strikes him. "Hug!" he says. "Hug harder!" We have conversations that run like this: "Nananananananana" "Batman!" In fact, I think I'll take some action and make this day better when I get home, and have him and Younger help me make some brownies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. On March 18, I sent an email to my grown kids and their spouses noting that we could all use some positive news during the coronavirus situation. I told them that every day I would be sending something that was humorous, cute, uplifting, etc. The only day that I have missed since then was the day that our internet service was down. They have told me that they look forward to the daily installment of Positive News. I look forward to sending it. It has truly helped me to maintain a positive attitude during these difficult months.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A story told by Field Marshal William Slim who defeated the Japanese in Burma:

    "I can remember myself, I am not telling you this as an example of leadership, but I remember once I stepped out of a tank. I was using a tank because it was the only means of communication I had left. I saw waiting for me two of my subordinate commanders with a couple of staff officers and one or two other fellows, standing in a melancholy group. The situation was just about as bad as it could be. A division was cut off; we had no means of getting it out; and I didn’t think we could last very long or it didn’t look like we could. As I stepped out, those chaps just looked at me and I did not know what to say. So, I put the best face I could on it. I tried to look cheerful, and said, “Well, gentlemen, it might be worse.” And one of those unspeakable fellows said, “How?” The only thing I could think of saying was, “Well, it might be raining,” and in two hours it was."



    Sometimes in this Vale of Tears you just have to bull your way through, and a sense of humor always helps.

    ReplyDelete

Be reasonably civil. Ire alloyed with reason is fine. But slagging the host gets you the banhammer.

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