The Kindness of Strangers

 Their mercy. Your kindness and mercy, Ben.

Annie Dillard

For my child

 

Top 10 things I want you know, from Mom (Susan Stewart Rich)

 

1.      You are loved by me and Dad. We thought very carefully before we had you and it was not an accident or by mistake that you are in this world.

2.      When I put trust in a higher power (for example, God), I am able to face many challenges with optimism. Hope and faith are powerful.
 

3.      You are loved by many, including Bo, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, bishops, and church leaders.  When someone loves you, they care about you and want you to succeed. They are happy when you do well. They will not put you down or make you feel ashamed or useless. They will help you.

4.      Please talk to me, Dad, or a trusted person if you are feeling down, lonely, scared, confused, or suicidal. AI is not a real person. It might help you with some of your questions, but going to a real person and talking with someone face to face can be extremely helpful. Hang in there, you are amazing!

5.      You can pray to a higher power (e.g., Heavenly Mother/Father) for guidance, peace, and answers to your questions. Remain open and receptive to answers from all around you. Be still and listen with your heart and mind.

6.      Have fun (joy) and learn as much as you can. Never stop learning.

This is one of my favorite quotations on learning:

The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.  Merlin in T.H. White’s Once and Future King

7.      Love others and help them with the knowledge you have gained. There is much suffering in the world and what you know and have learned could provide peace or an answer to someone’s problem.

8.      Money isn’t everything. Having money helps, but even people with trillions of dollars get depressed, sad, lonely, scared, confused, and hopeless. If I have overemphasized money, I apologize. Life is definitely hard without it, but it is not the ultimate solution for everything.

9.      Don’t be mean to others. You don’t need to be best friends with everyone, but there is never a reason to purposefully make someone feel bad.

10.  Be quick to forgive others. You will appreciate it all the more when someone quickly forgives you.

       This quotation reminds me of you because you are such a good friend:

"[I]t is in friendship . . . ideas and deeds are frequently performed or created that together can altogether change the face of society.  Friendship can go against an ingrained system in places where an individual does not have the courage to do so himself or herself." I found this in Tomas Sedlacek’s book - Economics of Good and Evil

What I want them to know

Have purpose (i.e., people, music, dance, poetry, cooking, family)

Have friends and get together with them often

Exercise your body daily

Learn how to do something well

Keep learning new things

Vacuum store

 A simple and very pleasant interaction with a fellow vacuum-buyer. She was over 70, white hair, baggy sweatshirt, no makeup, just wanting a good vacuum to keep things clean. She was happy. I was happy.

FRIENDS

 It was nice having friends over to chat last night in the backyard that Ben cleaned up for the get-together. It was a pleasant September evening with neighbors and fellow church-goers. Golf lessons in the background. The kids all played together well. We talked about real stuff. People need people. Hopefully more posts like this to come. Hopefully more poetic. Yes, more poetry in my life would be good. Both in and out. 

 Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman