The things that matter are the things that matter... regardless of our recognition of same. The last week has been shocking and unsettling. Asymmetric discomfort for all. Fear of getting sick. Fear of making others sick. Job (in)security, financial uncertainty... boredom! Society’s shared sense of loss and confusion. As in any challenging time, the bright light of crisis has shown on we, the people...and it has revealed some truths. Truths we’d do well to remember when that bright light fades and the haze of normal returns to our lives.
The truth is, it matters that we’ve all come home. In a somewhat existential way, we’ve returned to the sheltered, safe core of our existence...and hunkered down. Some have embraced the return, others are having a hard time with it. Regardless, we’ve seen, in a few short days, the primal instinct to gather our people and affix the shutters in the presence of danger.
The truth is, we are a familial species. While we value our independence, and we should, we need our people. At times, we need our people - at home. We don’t always see the value in that, and sometimes (Christmas and Thanksgiving), too much “people” and too much “home” is too much “familial”. But at the critical moments of our individual and collective journeys, our people and our homes are everything. I just spent a day in several eerily empty airports.... just the Choates and a bunch of Canadian oilfield workers. More than one of them told me, “It just feels like it’s time to go home.” Amen.
The truth is, it matters that some among us can’t go home. And didn’t. Thank God for them, and let us not forget their standing when all has passed. They are what HR calls “essential personnel.” Somewhere in Nebraska, a rancher spent the night on a calving ground, ensuring the newborns made it through their first hours. In every city, a young cop pushed a patrol car through an inky black night, keeping an eye on the thin blue line. In hospital rooms and behind ER curtains, nurses poured their souls into sometimes heartbreaking work. Our son slept on the ground last night...with his platoon, with a rifle in his hands.
The truth is, our perception of civilized life is a gift from those who do things we’d rather not, in the hope that we don’t even notice. The truth is, everyday folks - ranchers, farmers, cops, nurses, firefighters, soldiers, service workers, school teachers, and those like them, they are the heroes of this country. Tom Brady just left the Patriots to become a Tampa Bay Disney character. I’m betting most of us found ourselves far more concerned about whether we’d still find milk, ground beef and a veggie or two at the grocery store. The rancher, truck driver, farmer, dairy clerk and butcher - they dropped the mic, and took care of us...like they always do. Good luck Tom.
The truth is, when somebody sneezed on somebody in China, or whatever happened, everything changed. Except the everything that didn’t. We live big lives. Globally connected and individually prioritized lives. Most of us are safe, insured, content, and blissfully unaware of the fragile nature of it all. Until somebody sneezed on somebody in China, and our best bet was to gather our own, and go home. Our hope was that the kid who thought about joining the Army actually did. That the long hours of nursing school weren’t too much for the ones we need today. That a dairy farmer got out of bed this morning, and a truck driver followed through on getting that CDL. A tired, cold, sore rancher produced the best beef in the world, and a high school kid showed up to work a shift stocking shelves. Teachers planned a new plan for the kids they’ve vowed to educate, and the guy at the sewer plant kept up his end of the deal too. We didn’t know to hope for any of that. Its just always happened.
The truth is, people have died and more soon will. It seems surreal. We know so much, we’ve come so far. It’s 2020 and we’re so “woke”. But it’s true, we’re in a pickle and we had no idea “this” was even a possibility. Now, more than ever, the things that matter are the things that matter. Family. Home. People. Sacrifice. Not all that long ago, a generation of common, everyday folks saved the world. We call them The Greatest Generation. What must they think of the world they saved. I’m betting they see it through mixed emotion. We’ve eroded so many of their values, and misplaced so much of their character. But we’re working toward tolerance and acceptance of all people. And we’re holding fast to their dreams. The sons and daughters of those who shaped our country are still here. Doing things the hard way when no one would be the wiser if they didn’t. The people who will save this country today are the same ones who always have. The actions and values that will save us are those we inherit from the past. The financial devastation from the Spring of 2020 will far outlive the virus. Hollywood will hold a telethon. Politicians will hold a press conference. And common Americans will lace up their boots, sharpen their pencils, set their jaws, and again save the world.
The truth is, this is not World War Two and none of us are Ann Frank. But challenges lie ahead, and I hope we re-learn in the struggle that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves...and maybe learn a thing or two from the unsung heroes among us. God bless, good luck.