JOYFUL PIECE #141

Never ever lose hope

In a world that often threatens to overcome us with the dark actions of our co-inhabitants I often wonder about that darkness.

Then one day, unexpectedly, I discover hope hidden in the detritus of daily horrors.

That hope came in a LInkedIn email where people who have blessed my life by crossing my path were being announced as presenters at influential events of significant importance.

The events were not about violence, about war, about exploitation, but about those presenters sharing details of their work in improving the lives of others and our society. Those presenters, in their humility and discretion, appeared unannounced in my inbox. In their usual imitable and discreet demeanor they chose to do what they always do: good to others. That good performed as a matter-of-fact routine in their selflessness, in the normal course of their lives.

I should have perhaps recognized that wonderful news were afoot in the gathering of deer in our backyard, with their nobility, their gentleness, their innocent beauty.

We need to remember the words of the sages that have told us countless times that it is often darkest before dawn.

Faith, hope, joy— never loose sight of Providence in our lives. Despite the depravity in the POTUS actions in the Epstein child-trafficking scandal. Despite the POTUS inhuman, illegal, immoral attacks on Iranian citizens, including hundreds of children; despite the blockading of essential energy from Cuba and the effects on its public services that include hospitals, refrigeration of food and medicines, and fire protection.

Resist joyfully, vibrantly. Show that light surpasses darkness. The light shines ever bright to guide us in loving, compassionate ways.

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