What Will We Do With '22?

 

By G. E. Shuman

 

          Here we are at the beginning of a brand-new spin around the sun, known as the year 2022 AD. It’s not the first time we’ve been on this page of the calendar, but it is the VERY FIRST time we’ve been on this page of this PARTICULAR calendar. The year 2021 is a thing of the past. The year 2020, wonderful year that it was, (sarcasm intended) is further past.

          Strangely, whenever I turn on the news, which is less and less frequently lately, the biggest news stories I see are, yes, about negative situations our country and our world are experiencing but even more about how sick everyone has become of those topics, especially sick of hearing everyone discussing them for the umpteenth time. (Is that how you spell umpteenth?)  As far as the super story goes, people in general seem to be simply tired up to the Band-Aids on their upper arms of talk about vaccinations, boosters, masks, mandates, and words like corona, covid-19, delta and omicron.  I know I am. Truthfully, I think we all get the situation by now.

          Those other little matters (more sarcasm) like national security, inflation, and energy, to name a few, are topics that have been with mankind since Rome was built, not in a day,) and will likely always be heard from the Colosseum to the coffee shop. And maybe that’s okay. The super story remains the virus, but it is getting under a lot of people’s skin. (Pun intended.)

          So, what do we do about that? Here’s my idea, since I’m the one at the keyboard here. I think that we should live our lives with care, but without fear. Our country and, indeed, our world have been rocked to the core by a mutating, microscopic menace that we did not ask for or deserve. But here we are. The effect of that rocking has been the disruption of families, careers, schools, the economy, and even race relations for over TWO YEARS now. I guess my idea is for all of us to just knock it off. I think we all need a well-deserved, (self-administered) slap in the face and an admonition to get back to our personal, non-intrusive lives.

          As for politics, I am a conservative old white guy, so I’m a racist. Nope, I am not. You may be a liberal young black woman, so you’re a radical. Nope, you are probably not. Whoever we are, whatever we think, we need to respect each other’s opinions, or at least respect each other’s right to have them. I just think it’s going to be hard to get very far down the road of life if all we’re doing is stepping on each other’s toes.

There is no doubt that people are truly suffering because of the illness and loss of the last two years. My view is that the best thing we could do in 2022 would be to reach out to other people and simply help them. I know, that sounds way too simple. Let something, (maybe love?) be why we do the things we do for (not to) others in this brand-new year. I have lately realized, that, although I may agree with you on almost no issue, I am not your judge. I know way too much about me to ever be that. (Matthew 7:1. Holy Bible)

We’ve all heard the saying that the future is what we make of it. If that’s the case, what will we make of 2022?  In the words of author Wayne Muller, “How, Then, Shall We Live?”