I try to start the day right by doing some good. I’ll write for a few hours, then go to the Mansion to teach my meditation class, which has turned out to be a beautiful gift to me as well as them. Later in the day, I’ll bring Fate over to visit Lois in the Memory Care Unit. They seem to love one another.

The people there have a deep spirituality that comes from a long life and a drift towards death.

I love working with them.

Other ideas: Please consider supporting tuition for Melak, a junior at Bishop Maginn High School in Albany, N.Y., and a gifted and charismatic refugee from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Melak is a refugee two times over (no one should have to endure it once).

If you wish to help her and can, you can donate directly to her tuition fund, Mike Tolan, Principal, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202, it is tax-deductible. She believes the school has saved her.

You can also support this worthy school by visiting their Wish List on Amazon, right now it has two things: a $10 gift certificate or a $25 gift certificate. You can also support my Free Pizza Monthly Lunch program at the school, or my work at the Mansion assisted care facility, still buying winter clothes and blankets: via Paypal, [email protected] or by check, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 1286.

I’ve found that a $10 gift certificate can bring a lot of peace and do a lot of good.

You may have your own way of doing good, but I recommend it highly as a kind of daily sacrament or offering. I believe it helps the heart, lowers blood pressure, prolongs life. I have no evidence for this but my own life.

Doing good has grounded me, it gives me peace and perspective and meaning. Peace and compassion to you today.