No Joke

No joke from me this morning, Bush. Not a word about the two-day abbreviation of your vacation time in Crawford. Just looking at the images of destruction in Mississippi and Louisiana is a shocking reminder that not one of us is immune from disaster, and that it can strike at any moment--here in California, without a whisper of warning. Even ample notice of Katrina's imminent arrival, there on the Gulf Coast, was not enough to spare those many thousands of people the anguish of loss: loss of life, loss of homes, loss of property... and loss, of course, of a sense of well-being and safety in the world. Our sense of safety is just another one of those illusions that we use to prop us up.

A sad, but healthy reminder, too, to those of us fortunate enough to have been far from this particular one of nature's outrages, that uncertainties about real estate, remodeling, and money are minor sources of anxiety in the light of what others are given to suffer. Is this a trite insight? Maybe. It's always a useless exercise, comparing your suffering with mine, comparing the sufferings of some with those of others. There's no rational standard of comparison. Still, that said, we do well to "count our blessings" and be grateful.

The best and healthiest response is a simple one: compassion, and goodwill. Compassion and goodwill first, my Buddhist teacher insists, for oneself. "May I find true happiness," the practice starts. Because, my teacher says, true happiness comes from within: it takes nothing from anyone else's happniess. And my happiness is infectious, spreading out to other people. The next wish is for the happiness of others. Those close to me, at first, then spreading out in ever widening circles to those I know, and like, and those I don't know. Even to those I actively dislike... I include you, naturally, every morning, Bush, in my metta practice.

Perhaps that's especially appropriate today, with your poll numbers continuing to fall. Fifty-three percent now disapprove of your job as President. I wonder how that feels? Or perhaps, along with other politicians and public figures, a part of the training is how NOT to feel. Which could be a part of the problem. The problem, I mean, of the bigger picture. Where we stand today, as a nation. As a culture. I hear you'll be visiting the disaster site, once it's safe to do so. One suggestion: spend some time with people OTHER than those your guardians have arranged for you to meet.