My neighbor Cora — a retired teacher — called me while I was driving to the office earlier today to remind me that she wants to take me out to dinner sometime. We’ve talked about going out together, but we’ve never gotten around to coordinating a time. As she was about to get off the phone, she said, “I love you. You’re such a good neighbor!” And I told her that I loved her, too. I wonder how upset the racists of the unquestioned Jim Crow world — only about six decades ago — would have been that a white man and his elderly black neighbor care abut each other in such a way. There’s still a lot wrong with racial attitudes in the world today, but small things such as this remind me that we’ve come a long way.
Love & Hope — Episode 12:
Pausing in the midst of fear
The last week has been difficult for many of us. Even though the medical scare related to the new coronavirus has been going on for months, it started touching daily life for most of this country over the last week.
People seem stressed out and preoccupied, and I don’t blame them one bit. So for this week, I just have a very short episode explaining why I’m hitting a brief pause. I’ll be back next week — after I’ve had more time to consider what’s going on and how it’s affecting all of us.
Preview of next week’s show: We’re probably going to talk about how the current world crisis affects your relationships — and how those relationships affect the ways in which you deal with the stress of what we’re all going through.
VIDEO: Take a break from crisis with a 90-second parody video
The last week has been pretty tense for everybody. A lot of people are worried about issues related to the new coronavirus. Others of us are even more concerned about the economy.
On Monday evening, I made a quick-and-dirty video — only 90 seconds long — to make fun of one of the sillier things that’s been making headlines lately. I can’t tell you more than that without giving the joke away.
I shot all of the video with my iPhone at my office on the spur of the moment — in less than five minutes — and then edited it later in the evening. I’m sorry to say that there are a couple of video glitches on the final output, but I don’t know why. They weren’t there in the original footage, but I didn’t take the time to find the source of the problem.
I hope you’ll enjoy it. Otherwise, it might be worth every penny you’re paying for it.
Briefly: For three beautiful minutes, this walk-on was a starter for a top-10 team
Briefly: Article about treatment for autistic kids brought angry emails
Briefly: Tell the people you admire how amazing they are — before it’s too late
Changes are destroying culture, but we can build beautiful dream
Loss of cultural consensus means violent conflict in decades ahead
Living a sane and healthy life is now radical by world’s standards
Coming economic hardship may help me understand Aunt Bessie
Why can it feel strange to lose homes we haven’t seen for years?
Intense emotions let me feel alive — but hurt comes along with joy