Truth.

 For a country of people with so much, we undervalue joy.

Margaret Renkl in the NYT: 

My grandmother began her career in a two-room country schoolhouse. She was still teaching 40 years later when Alabama public schools were finally integrated. What my grandmother knew, and I did not, is that it’s right to celebrate a hard-won achievement. It’s right to drink in the pride of family and friends. It’s always right to give yourself over to joy every single time joy is on offer. ...*

Romans 12:

A Living Sacrifice

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d]

Gifts of Grace

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,[e] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[g] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[h] Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

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When you’re in a waiting room and an angry commentator on the corner television is telling you that the world is full of awful people who are trying to hurt you or take away what’s rightfully yours, think about all the good people you know. Remember how very many good people you know and how many times a perfect stranger has been good to you in tiny ways — offering to push your cart back to the store, waving you ahead in traffic, sharing an eye-roll at the gate when yet another flight delay is announced.

When you find yourself deeply doubting the goodness of the human race, ask yourself these questions: Who is profiting from your sadness and your anger? Who is getting rich by making you afraid? Someone is.

Not counting uncooperative politicians and partisan media figures, most people are sincerely trying their best to get along. If you talk to them, they will listen. If you listen, they will talk to you. Most people are good. Remind yourself that most people are good.

As you enter the world, remember, too, how beautiful this place is. Remember the gentle fog. Remember the rocky bluffs and the immense diversity of trees. Remember the green coves and the green ponds and the birds that migrate by the hundreds of thousands through the night sky above your dorms. Remember the gentle deer picking their way through the fog on their impossibly delicate hooves. Remember the cry of the broad-winged hawk teaching her fledglings to hunt.

Wherever you go, even in the deepest city canyons far from these mossy coves, there will be fascinating creatures who are trying to live out their lives in the same place where you are trying to live out yours. Make room for your wild neighbors. Learn what they need and how you can help them. It will make you feel better about the mess your species has made of things if you can find a way to help.

We are, all of us, creatures. We belong to this gorgeous world in all the same ways that the coyotes in the cove belong to this world. In all the same ways that the fog-shrouded trees belong to this world. You may come someday to feel trapped in asphalt and concrete, but you are not trapped. When you are restless or lonely or afraid, go for a walk in the park or a hike in the woods. Plant a little garden, if only in pots on the sidewalk. Being in the wild world will make you feel better. Get your hands dirty. I promise you will feel better.

And merely by falling in love with the world, you will begin to make it better. Human beings will work to their dying breath to save something they love. Fall in love with the wild world, and you are taking the first step toward saving it.

The world is beautiful. People are good.

Days will come when even those simple truths will be hard to remember. When the self-doubts creep in and the worries descend, think of the frogs singing in the springtime ponds or the hawks crying in the sky. Think of the classmate who lent you her textbook or the stranger who took the time to call a tow truck when your phone was dead.

The world is beautiful. People are good.

If you can remember those two things, you will find your way to understanding that nothing ever came of despair, that change happened only because good people worked together to make an unfair world better. My grandmother didn’t close out her teaching career in an integrated classroom because Alabama politicians suddenly decided to do the right thing. As with every other sweeping change for good, desegregation happened because good people working together with other good people became an unstoppable force for change.