Day 262 The Wisdom of Mortimer Brewster

Dear friends,

A tractor trailer was hit head on today by a car driving the wrong way on 787 in Albany. As soon as I heard the news (before it was made public that the driver of the car expired), I was looking for bets. How much money did anyone want to wager that alcohol was involved? Whether it was or not, do you see where my head goes? The truth is most of these kind of accidents are alcohol or drug related. Needless carnage. It makes me sick. Stomach acid wreaks havoc on the inside of me like a microcosm of the BP oil spill the minute I hear the news headlines. Are there no cabs? Are there no buses? Are there no sober people to drive? Can it possibly be worth it to take the chance of killing or seriously injuring someone? Do I sound bitter? I’m really not. More frustrated. More baffled. More fed up.

I’m not smart enough to know if more laws will help or not. I’m fixin’ to learn, but at this point I’m getting the idea that the laws already on the books are not enforced. My friend Bill Dikant, whose family was wiped out by a drunk driver 30 years ago, worked as a court officer in Rensselaer County and told me one lady came in to be arraigned on her 9th DWI. Count em’, NINE. What’s wrong with this picture? To quote Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster in the one and only Arsenic and Old Lace, “It’s not only against the law, it’s wrong…”

I wonder sometimes, seeing the world as it is, that the Great One doesn’t just wrap the thing up now. But He’s not a pessimist. He’s the ultimate realist. Since He runs the show, He knows exactly when to pull the curtain. Besides, alongside the wreck on this planet there are still moments of great beauty:

The National Seashore after 6pm
Cosette stretched out in a sunny spot on the living room rug
Joseph carrying David on his back and dumping him on the couch laughing
Miss Rejoice singing harmony
My crabapple tree, any season
A windy, October day
Injured people learning to walk at the aptly named Sunnyview Hospital

The grace of God is in full operation in this upside down world. In fact, there’s a scripture that I love that says “Where sin did abound, grace did MORE abound.” (Drama queen emphasis mine). That’s the very good new of the gospel. No one needs it more than me. And everyone needs it.

Dr. Bagchi gave us the news. Stephen’s rotator cuff tear is very small, too small for surgery. Hopefully physical therapy will eventually give him back his full range of motion. But it may not. He may have to live with what he’s got. No way we’re settling for that at this point! We may have to come to terms with that later, but not yet.

Smitty passed his test for the special license he needs! Thank you all for your prayers for him. What a relief for Hercules to have that in the rear view mirror before we go on vacation. I’m terribly proud of him, fighting back from catastrophic injuries, getting a new job AND passing a difficult exam. He is quite the fellow. Cute too. Great smile. OK, he reads this blog so I better back off or his head won’t fit through even our widened doors…

Where the headlines can be the bitter, talking to all of you each night is the sweet. I really so wish I could sit on some deck with each of you, on a windy day, drinking coffee (or whatever YOU like), eating chocolate chip scones, and talking about all the moments, great and small, that have meaning to you. Your top ten lists, your favorite movies, your moments of great beauty. Perhaps one day we'll have that time…when time is no longer our opponent…

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann