5/27/2024
JRB,
I am blessed to start my day without worrying about a bomb falling on my head or where I will find water. This is not true for families in Gaza or Burma. AJ provided a reminder of this in their story, “Scarred by war, Myanmar children ‘cannot have the life they used to have.’WINTA!!!
I need some new alternatives to violence for my house guests. I ran out of kibble, so my distraction trick for the foster puppies is no longer viable. Their play fighting seems too intense to be fun. They are growling, snarling & attempting to get each other by the neck. I’m exhausted just witnessing them.
It’s a reminder that animals, all animals, need to establish who’s boss. These two would eventually figure out that Smoothie is the adventurous one with the courage to go to new places & explore, while Fluffy is the strong, persistent one, who will stick with a task even when it gets monotonous. Since they are dogs, they don’t realize that they can both be bosses in their own domains & don’t have to physically fight to determine dominance.
Constructive, collaborative activity – that’s what we all need. Mikhail Zygar opines in today’s NYT that we’re too hung up on beating the bad guy rather than cultivating faith in democracy. He worries that, like Boris Yeltsin in 1996, you are positioning yourself as the only person who can save democracy. Not so.
The people of Washougal & Camas, WA, were having a lot of dog fights, until they arrived at the idea of joining forces to pick up trash as a way of developing trust. Stephen Humphries describes their efforts in today’s CSM, noting, “each small act of kindness, they’re working to weave a social fabric of grace, stitch by stitch, & rooted in tolerance, respect, & faith in each other, as different as that other may be.”
Memorial Day honors the roll of every America in saving democracy. We do that when we get to know our neighbor & work together to improve our community. Please promote being a helper rather than a fighter or a hater.
BYBS,
