Mankind is our Business

I got out and walked the “hills of Somerset” this morning. It was so very foggy. I though of going down the road to Woodstation and walking, but dreaded driving in the thick pea soup. So I walked the hills and thought.

I thought about all the years I have lived, and all of the joy I have experienced with my family and friends, bittersweet with the absence of so many who I have loved so dearly..

I thought about the condition of humanity, and how, although there is very little I personally can do about it, I will do as much as I can.

I thought about the passing of the seasons, and how autumn is almost upon us, although you can’t tell right now, but soon it will be here. The pumpkins and cornstalks and hay bales will be out in people’s yards. The pumpkin farms will be full of little kids taking hay rides and picking them out a great big orange one to take home to carve into a Jack O’ lantern.

I thought about how my granddaughter is getting married this weekend. The very first of my grandchildren to take this step. I wish I could be there, but she knows how I love her and wish her the very best.

I saw baby Evie, now 2 3/4 years old, heading out for nursery school. How much she has changed in such a short period of time.

I love to walk, because it does give me time to think, and to reflect on things. I think that even though our country and our world is in such a big mess, there is still love to be had, and memories to be made, and people to make happy. There are people who need help, who we need to help.

As the ghost of Jacob Marley told Ebenezer Scrooge when Scrooge told him he was a good man of business: “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

Mankind is our business, whether it’s our beloved families or perfect strangers who are in need. Get out and walk today if you can and think about all these things.