Sign's words of wisdom always brighten day

I am thankful for the excellent health and spectacular Idaho life that I am blessed with. I believe billions of people of this earth would change places with me in a heartbeat. I am most grateful for possessing the intelligence to comprehend how fortunate I am.

Still with this abundance of blessings heaped upon me there are times when my heart fills with tears and sometimes anger. This condition arises because I see so much misery on this planet. Why are there suffering moms and hungry children crying themselves to sleep each night the world over? I witness the privileged living luxurious lives in servant-filled castles while others sleep pitifully under bridges. It seems humanity’s glorious achievements such as the precepts of the golden rule and one being his brother’s keeper are easily swept aside by greed.

I don’t suffer from encounters with depression as some poor folks do. I posses no religious beliefs as some good folks do. I believe my sight is pure. I believe my judgment is not clouded by any assumptions, prejudices or dogma. My dilemma is I see the truth and cannot ignore it. I witness great disparity in this world. Sometimes my inability to institute solutions that might lessen even the most blatant contradictions in life leaves me feeling powerless and ineffectual. At times my empathy and frustration collide and I find myself bewildered. I am left with questions screaming and silent answers.

A few miles from Sandpoint there is a little country church. I have known many of the parishioners for decades. I am of the opinion that they are salt-of-the-earth American Idahoans. Outside this little church is a poster board. Dispensed are vignettes, sayings of the day, words to live by, etc. Many are the times I have been lifted up by the expressions displayed there. Saved, one might say.

Recently, I had a particularly perplexing day. As I passed I looked at the sign and it said, “Peace starts with a smile.”. The profound beauty of that simple statement delivered me. I found myself smiling and then laughing out loud. I feel privileged to have that sign, those people, and that church in my community and life. The good people of the Sagle Community of Christ Church reached out and once again delivered a reprieve and set me free from the latest empathy quandary that was entangling me.

Their messages infuse me with courage and hope. I especially loved “Don’t make me come down there!” Their words massage my heart and mind and resuscitate a struggling confidence that someday I will make a positive difference.

Thank you, good people. Thank you for your words of wisdom and hope shared without strings or hooks. Thank you for the many sabbaticals from turmoil your words have graced me with. Thank you for the breather from influences that negatively affect my being. You are my heroes.

WILLIAM R. OUIMET

Sandpoint