There are kid fingerprints all over the window of the back door and I keep finding plastic popsicle wrappers in random places.
It’s Summer.
I’ve been thinking about Summers when I was a kid. I remember sunshine and popsicles! And dirt and having to come in when the street lights came on. I remember neighborhood kickball and hide and seek. I remember eating a good dinner and sleeping hard from all the fresh air.
And long hours of good old-fashioned politically incorrect cartoons.
And the exquisite joy of fireflies.
It was a simpler time perhaps, but I don’t believe in completely romanticizing it, as some are prone to do. There were, after all, real dangers and threats. There were big brothers who were true assholes and couldn’t be trusted with little girls. There were bees and snakes, cars that drove too fast, and skinned knees. There were scary dogs and questionable parents with questionable habits. Life held real dangers then, just as it does for our kids today.
Sometimes we think the world is the craziest, scariest, most dangerous that it has ever been for this generation of kids. But I think this just perpetuates fear that isn’t helpful for them or us. To be sure, the world is a different place than it used to be. We are less connected to our communities and more bombarded than ever with bad news via technology. It's everywhere, and we all know it.
Did you know that they are reinstating mask mandates in California schools? I can only assume it’s not because masks work, but because they actually literally hate the children. Today congress codified gay marriage and our society is making it a priority to argue whether boys can have vaginas. Free speech is being censored, inflation is up, gas prices are up, grocery prices are up. Church attendance is down. Crime is up and trust in law enforcement is down. Addiction is up, obesity is up, sickness is everywhere, people are fat and sick and dying. War is ongoing. They are trying to divide us by race, class, gender, political party, and anything else they can come up with. Blah blah blah.
There is no shortage of bad news and reasons to clutch our pearls and keep little Billy home where nothing bad can get him. Seriously though, it’s easy to want to just hunker down with some guns and rice and hope to outlive the crazy.
But friends, have you seen how much GOOD is out there too?
Have you been STUNNED by how glorious it can be?
When was the last time you were FLABBERGASTED by the beauty of life?
Take, for example, music.
Or friendship.
A field of sunflowers.
Chickens pecking.
A dog wagging.
Fresh cut lawns and morning glories. Sunsets and sand on your feet. The smell of freshly washed sheets and the crunch of a fresh cucumber from the garden.
Think of the way children look when they come parading in the house in the middle of a hot afternoon, all red-faced and hot, needing a popsicle. Simply glorious!
There is a secret I think they don’t want us to know: life is glorious and brilliant, and there are some things they just can’t take away from us!
Maybe the world is full of a lot of weird stuff right now, but when you come down to it, it’s also filled with a lot of people who are just trying hard to do their best. Wanting the best for their kids, their families, their friends, all while navigating an increasingly complex and tragic world. Good people. Tired people. People just like me and you.
So I’m contending for the good - and we really do have to contend for it. If we don’t fight for it, the dark side of the world will just wash over us like a tidal wave. Little acts of war keep us going, keep us from being consumed.
So fight the fight!
Pick the blueberries!
Watch the sunrise!
Listen to the song again!
Keep going. Contend for the good with me.
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