Sunday Snippet: The Let Freedom Ring Edition

It’s a holiday weekend–which means a three-day weekend for a lot of folks. We’re at the lake and although this is sort of the official start of summer, the park isn’t hopping like it usually is every year at this time. Oh, it’s busy. Folks are here opening up their cottages and getting boats in the water, but somehow it seems more subdued. Even the amusement park, which has been a part of the lake community since 1928 isn’t as crowded as usual (that’s according to Son, who took his family there yesterday. I avoid the amusement park except to go by it in the boat when we’re cruising the lake).

Head-up: I’m about to talk for a moment about how I feel about what’s happening in our nation right now. If you are one of those folks who believes that authors shouldn’t have a political voice or who should keep their political opinions to themselves and just talk about their books, then you probably should stop reading now. I am an author, but I’m also an American patriot, I have a right to speak, and I have something to say…

I’m not sure why this is a quieter holiday weekend than usual. Maybe because it’s kind of chilly with a high in the mid sixties instead of the usual high seventies or even eighty. Maybe folks are more subdued this year because of the state of the nation. Maybe they’re worrying about what’s going to happen with their healthcare or their Social Security or their kids’ college educations or a measles pandemic or the price of groceries and gas or … I dunno, having their basic freedoms being taken away by an authoritarian regime.

We live in scary times and honestly, although I believe there are ways to stop the crazy, I don’t see too many in Washington trying to rein in what has become a mess of a government. I appreciate the ones who fight, and I support as best I can the ones whose voices are loudest. The ones who believe, as I do, that the Constitution of the United States and the Rule of Law must be protected. I write my congresspeople and I pay attention. Even though some days, it’s incredibly hard, I  make myself watch the news on PBS and listen to the ones who know truth, like Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Reich and others, but still…we live in scary times.

I support the causes I can get behind–think PBS, Inequality Media Civic Action, Week of Compassion, and the ACLU. I worry about the people in areas of the country that are struggling with tornados and storms and fires and other natural disasters–what happens if FEMA disappears? I fear for children who may not be getting the vaccines and the care they need because they live in poverty and their sources of medical help may disappear. I worry about seniors seeing their Medicare and Social Security disappear–and yeah, I’m one of them. As blessed as we are, we need our Social Security to pay our bills and Medicare to keep us going. I worry about the folks for whom that is their only source of income. I worry about the veterans who depend on the VA. I worry about what will become of our educational institutions. What will happen?

In all of this deliberate chaos, I find hope in the American people, in our Canadian friends who are encouraging us. I find hope in being able to speak out, to write what I want, say what I believe. I find hope in the people and institutions are who fighting back and helping those who are being hurt by what’s happening. Not all of us can go to Washington to march, but $5 to a cause can help, donating to a voice that speaks and is heard can help, writing and calling your congresspeople can help. I urge you to find a place where you can help. Mr. Rogers said, “When I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  Yes, look for the helpers and do what you can to help, too.

Gratitude for This Week: I’m grateful for so many things this weekend but today I’m only going to mention one thing: I’m so thankful for all the veterans who fought to protect our freedom. Some died in the fight, some returned home with devastating life-changing injuries, some came back to derision. Every veteran who served in our military deserves our highest respect and gratitude. God bless them all from the colonists who fought for our freedom to the warriors who protect our democracy now. Let Freedom Ring!

Stay well, speak out when you can, always choose kindness, and most of all, mes amis, stay grateful!