Jim Letter November 2012

Dear Jim,

It was great to talk to you a few days ago about the fawn in the back yard, the election of Obama, etc. You’re a deep thinker and I always appreciate our exchanges.

Often in our talks you mention how “cruel” and “harsh” life is. The following are some of my thoughts on this.

It’s true that unthinking hunters often kill does leaving fawns to starve in the woods…and fires level great forests……and predators hunt and eat their prey…and babies are born disabled…and hurricanes level cities often killing many.

How do we deal with all of this or make sense of it? How do we avoid sinking into a permanent sadness and depression because a part of nature is so seemingly cold and heartless? How do we keep our equilibrium?

Maybe the answer lies in our ability to not only see the harshness and coldness in nature but to also see the beauty and balance in it. To see the profound mystery in it all.

To see the beauty and immensity of the universe.

To see the miracle and mystery of human existence.

To see the miracle and mystery of the evolutionary process.

To observe the parental care of the young in the animal kingdom.

To experience human love, parental, family and among loving friends.

To see not only the evil people in our world but also those who are angelic in their compassion and kindness.

To see and be inspired by those beautiful people who rise above us…people like Buddha, Jesus, Ghandi, Lincoln, Mandela, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt and others.

To see and be inspired by the beautiful people who never get any headlines who live their lives with goodness, kindness and honesty.

It seems to me that if we are to keep our balance and even our sanity we have to keep before us the whole mosaic of existence not just a part of it. We sink into hopelessness if we only see what seems to be the cold, dark side of life. We sink into naivete and sentimentality if we only see the positives and the beauty.

To experience reality is to see it all and to accept it like it is…cold yet warm…hard yet soft…dark yet light…sorrowful yet joyful…seemingly heartless yet kind.

And what seems to give people the most balance and meaning in life seems to be to experience love, whether it be from a parent, or brother or sister or friend, or partner.

Anyway, that’s enough for now. Let me know what you think of these thoughts.

Love,

Dad