30 November

Rainy Day. And struggles

by Jon Katz

   I see from my messages all the time that many people are struggling these days, something I can see around me. Everyone has to figure out their own way of responding. It’s tempting to envy animals, who don’t worry about their troubles, simply live around them. Aquinas wrote that animals can’t really suffer because they don’t know they are suffering. Interesting idea.
   We are not so lucky or wise. I told a pastor friend yesterday that hard times are difficult for people without some ground underneath them. Hard times are challenging, but often lead people to meaningful things – faith, friendship, self-awareness, strength. I wish I only had good times, but I cherish hard times. I always ask how I can make something meaningful out of them. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t. But hard times have brought me the greatest gifts I have – stories, dogs, photography, Maria, the farm. And the best thing about hard times is that they are always followed by better times, if you read much history at all.
 

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