Kitty house.

There is much strife in our world. It is unbelievably easy to read the news daily, local, national, and global. In seconds, we’re able to find ample evidence of famine, war, and hatred. Too much of this exposure can be debilitating, destroying hope, and leaving us feeling as if there is no good in the lives we lead. It eats away at our capacity to love others through service and to love ourselves. Once you believe that your actions are meaningless, you stop trying to change what you do have access to. It makes me angry— all these things I can’t change—that hurricanes decimate cities, that another mother’s children are killed on the way to school, that my children know of murder, that there are people with no food, no running water, that we tell people God loves them while we harm them. There is so very much to scream about and screaming is a valuable tool from time to time. It’s not healthy to only scream. Sometimes, this is all we have, our desperate vocalizations for anything that means anything at all. But, once we’re able to move from this reasonable anguish to a place of action, we should. You do matter. The little things you do are not little. When you begin to feel like it’s meaningless for you to try, recognize that it does feel meaningless at times, but that is a feeling and not a truth. If the news is leaving you without fresh air, with no energy to breathe life into the space around you, put your phone down, turn the tv off, and close your laptop. Walk outside and let the sun touch your face and for a moment, remember that good is happening too. As hard as it is to fight our biological tendency to focus on fear, let the good hold your focus too. Sometimes, say yes to the things that seem pointless in the grand scheme of life. When my kids wanted to make an outdoor cat house for Porch Kitty, I almost said no last year. It seemed like a waste of money and time, but they believed she deserved a safe home, regardless of whether she chose to stay on our porch or not. They were right then and they’re still right now. Whether this cat would use this house or not wasn’t the point. She has been with us now long enough that I’ve lost count of the months. We use her house as a little end table for our outside chairs and I see her eyes glowing from within its walls when I come home late at night. I do know that it’s not so easy as just shutting everything down and prancing ahead, healed of all pain and energized with glorious sun juice, ready to tackle every project and smile at everyone who glares. If the news doesn’t hurt, that’s a whole different issue I’m not up for writing about today. But when it does begin to destroy you, please trust that you’re still capable of good and someone will be better for it.