My friend Kimberly recently posted:

“I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE REST OF YOU. I AM STRUGGLING WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD. ANY WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT?”

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Yes, Kimberly, try these:

God is not finished with us yet. 

It’s easy to get discouraged when we are fed a constant stream of the most outlandish and outrageous things happening somewhere, anywhere, in our tired old world. 

But everything that’s happening now has happened before, over and over again. 

There was a gag in the Fifties that went like this: 

They told me, “Cheer up, things could be worse.” So I cheered up, and sure enough . . . things got worse!

In times like these, I feather my own nest; I tend to my knitting; I weed my garden. These are all metaphors, Kimberly. I don’t actually do those particular activities.

The point is, I show up every day. I take people one by one. I try to respond to their needs as I can discern them—especially each person’s need to be treated with dignity and respect.

I hear folks’ concerns, but when those concerns are political—usually informed by media reports of matters far from our daily lives—I safeguard them in File 13 and redirect the conversation.

An old Chinese poem, perhaps the oldest extant Chinese poem, says:

When the sun comes out, we go to work;

when the sun goes in, we rest.

We plow the fields so we can eat;

we dig wells so we can drink.

What has the Emperor’s power to do with us?

I focus on the here-and-now and on my own responses, which ultimately are the only things within my control. Yes, I can control my own thoughts, words, and deeds. 

Some may think me cold-blooded, but I simply do not get urges of the heart that compel me to act out of character. My heart, if I have one, is not that kind of heart. 

Calm, philosophical detachment may be impossible if you have another kind of heart. If so, all I can say is you are in for a lot of woe that I have managed to avoid over the past eighty years.

Despite my distance from the flames of passion—or because of it—I am active, upbeat, and productive in my actual life. I meet each day with a certain zest, untroubled by a whole world of troubles, confident the sun will rise again tomorrow. 

That’s enough for an old man. 

I wish you all peace and contentment.

Blessings,

Larry F. Sommers

Your New Favorite Writer