MIA is one word to describe my blogging presence. Time flies when you're having fun...or when you say yes to too many things...or just because everything seems to go faster with each passing year...
Am I right? 😜
And perhaps one of the reasons I haven't been writing here at all of late is because I haven't felt compelled to share anything in particular. That's not for a lack of things happening - kids are in my office nearly every day, planning for my one class is taking more time that I expected, marathon training is messing with my sleeping habits, etc. etc. etc. - it's more for feeling that my blog post may not add any value to this world or help anyone.
But, then again, maybe it will...
Just yesterday I was explaining to a good friend how I was feeling pretty exhausted because I had my 20 miler training run that morning. She asked, "What do you think about for 20 miles? I can't imagine running for 1 hour let alone 3!"
The truth is, I don't do too much thinking. My mind wanders...a LOT. But mostly I let myself get lost in music, when one particular soundtrack tends to take center stage for that particular marathon's training. (For the Oakland Marathon it was actually two - "Dear Evan Hanson" and "Fiddler on the Roof.") The Indy Marathon is no exception, and training run after training run I've listened to and fallen in love with "Come From Away."
If you haven't heard of this musical or listened to its soundtrack, stop reading this blog post right now and find it on Spotify. (I'll be right here when you get back. 😉)
"Come From Away" is based on the true story of a town called Gander on the island of Newfoundland, where they landed planes that were outside of American air space on September 11, 2001. It's about true generosity of spirit, what bonds us as humans, and the good that can result from something as terrible as an act of terrorism. Just when you feel your heart is about to break during the show, you find yourself laughing or smiling, and it's impossible not to feel transported back to where you were on that day. The characters are lovable, relatable, and real. Their feelings are palpable. (And I wanted to stand up and cheer when the female pilot sings about becoming the first female captain in history - hooray for strong women and strides for equality!)
Perhaps I have a special place in my heart for this musical because my grandpa's best friend is from Newfoundland, and he is one of the most generous, welcoming, and fun-loving people I've ever met. One of the lines in the last song of the show pretty much sums him up:
A: Why are Newfoundlanders so bad at knock-knock jokes?
B: I don't know.
A: Well, try it. I'll be a Newfoundlander.
B: Knock knock.
A: Come on in, the door's open!
Yep, that's accurate. But I digress...
I think this show and its music has really been on my mind and tugging at my heart lately because with so much hate in our world and terrible things on the news, it's easy to get swept up in the same mentality. But there is so much good...and there is room for so much good when we give it a chance. Did you see how Brandt Jean forgave his brother's murderer in a courtroom in Dallas? Some people were up in arms that he could do that in court (and that the judge hugged the woman too)...but it's forgiveness, and it's his to give, not ours to judge. It's beautiful...and it shows strength of the one forgiving. How much easier would it have been in that moment to look at the police officer in hatred and wish her harm to repay for what she did? But he didn't... And there are so many other acts of love and good out there that we may never know about or only hear about years later (such as was the case for me with learning about the people of Gander on 9/11), but they're there.
Why does the right thing have to be so hard to do these days? What is driving people apart and making us forget that we belong to one another, to God, to the larger human race?
I wish I had an answer...and a solution. But for now, I'll keep trying to do good a little at a time, to do the next right thing. That's something we can all try to do. And we can remember and celebrate the good when it comes our way, whether that be in the news or in a Broadway show.
