My new Post Office Box 502 (formerly P.O. Box 2) was chock full of letters today, none for Minnie, all for me. The first one, the only one I have time to read today, came from Maggie, who lives far away, and I think I’ll take it with me to Tulsa.
“Jon,” she wrote, “this heartfelt message to you is long overdue. Your books and blogs convey so much goodness to so many readers, of which I am one. Not the least of which is the critical subject of the journey toward a meaningful life. Thank you for helping me to be brave in my own pursuit of a life worth living. It is a daily choice, a willful focus on the present.”

Maggie asked me to accept a virtual hug for Maria and the animals here. “I would send hugs for the chickens and sheep, but I’m not sure hugs have meaning for chickens and sheep. You’ll have to fill me in on that someday. Be well and happy!”

This was what I call a cleansing message, and after watching some of the news last night, I need to cleanse my spirit, to renew my own daily pursuit of a life worth living. It is, as Maggie suggests a daily choice, a willful focus on the present. I cannot stop others from pursuing lives of hate and anger and fear, I can only do that myself, one thing at a time, one act at a time, one deed at a time, one word, one photo, on visit with a donkey. One letter. My post office box will nourish and sustain that work, it already is. We are now trading messages with one another, you and me, in the new way, in the old. Letters live, and so do the many wonderful people who send them. Bedlam Farm, Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.