8/6/2022

Aug 6, 2022

Greetings JRB,

            How are you feeling? My guess is that you are smiling, even if you are feeling lousy. I appreciate that! Even more so after reading about the many benefits of being cheerful in the G today in Donna Ferguson (DF)’s piece about Timothy Hampton(TH)’s new book Cheerfulness: A Literary and Cultural History. TH identified passages where authors explain the benefits of maintaining a positive affect even in times of gloom. The article includes quotes from Shakespeare, Dickens & Austin. One of my favorites was from Emerson, who wrote, “no one can truly be a poet, unless they are cheerful, because poets “delight in the world, in man, in woman, for the lovely light that sparkles from them”. This reminded me of our Quaker founder, George Fox, who wrote “walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them you may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you.”

            Hume pointed out that “cheerfulness (is) a flame or a contagion…When a cheerful person comes into a room where everybody is subdued, cheerfulness swoops around the room and envelops everyone.” Good cheer is a gift we can give our friends when times are tough. Thanks for doing such a good job of setting an example in this department.

            According to folks who have been to Burma, people there are quite cheerful. I’m sure they are having difficulties maintaining it, so please continue to support Sec. Blinken in his efforts to get the ASEAN leaders to pressure the junta to restore democracy. According to today’s Daily Beast, the Burmese youth are poised to keep resisting military oppression, even more so after the execution of their hero Zeya Thaw. Please do what you can to convince them WINTA.

            BYBS,