Ruth and I listened to Christmas music as we awaited our Christmas guests this past Christmas season. Most of our family was with us for a few days. The Christmas music helped with the spirit of the season because there is no snow in Florida and snow helps with the spirit as well.
We’d been looking forward to sharing time with everyone. That’s what life is all about you know, sharing time. We weren’t disappointed. We enjoyed, and hope that everyone else enjoyed, our time together.
One of my favorite plays is Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”. If you’re not familiar with the play it takes place in a small New Hampshire town, Grover’s Corners, and tells the story of the people who lived there. The last act of the play focuses on the female lead, Emily, and her untimely death. She has the opportunity to relive a day of her life, and though she is warned not to return, she can’t resist and revisits what she deems to be a simple day from her past. There is no joy in her return and she realizes that every moment of life should be treasured. (heavy stuff)
When she asks the Stage Manager (another key character in the play) if anyone truly understands the value of life while they live it, he responds, “No. The saints and poets, maybe—they do some.”
The play takes place during a thirteen year period, 1901-1913. It was first performed in 1938.
Over the past eighty plus years since the plays début, it seems to me that not much has changed in the attitudes of people. We take what we have for granted and criticize everything and everyone who doesn’t conform with what we believe. We are an intolerant group. I try to enjoy the present but, I too, fail to exhibit tolerance all of the time.
It’s impossible to listen to the news, read a paper, (yes, I read a paper), or explore the internet, without hearing what is bad about the world. The other guy is always wrong. Big business and corporations are greedy. The poor are lazy. We’ve all heard it all. People point out the shortcomings of others, but don’t offer a better way. They point out what’s wrong with the world, but seldom celebrate what’s right.
Each of us is capable of doing only so much, but being positive and having a positive outlook is something we all can do. As for me, I will strive to become more “saintly and poetic”. Perhaps that vision will provide me with a clearer understanding of the true value of life and the ability to share that vision with others. The only thing that I am absolutely sure of is that sharing time with the people I love is the most important thing that I will ever do. (heavy stuff)
And if you’re not prepared for the “heavy stuff” offered in my past 480 words on this 9th day of the 1st month of 19 (1/9/19) , consider this observation from the cartoonist Brian Crane.
