“The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God – if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That’s what I think.” ~ Maya Angelou.

In my childhood, the usual way for my parents to end a conversation, to bid farewell, to send to bed, was with the phrase: ‘God bless’.  It persisted through adulthood, when a long-distance telephone conversation was an expensive form of communication, and held for special occasions.  The phone call would always end with my parents saying ‘God bless!’.  Whether it was a command or a wish was unclear.  As a family, it was part of our Christmas tradition as we gathered around the Christmas tree to open presents.  When we finished unwrapping each gift, we would solemnly recite ‘God bless….’ followed by the name of each of the givers.  In the case of our relatives with Uncle, Aunt and five kids, we would end up giggling as we tried to make sure we got our cousins’ names in the right order (eldest to youngest of course!).

My mother changed the farewell tradition slightly many years ago, when my daughter was a ‘tween’.  She surprised me (prefaced by the caveat ‘…as Natelege would say’) by ending the conversation with ‘Love you!’.  It was spoiled a little, since she said it in a slightly mocking childish way, complete with a pseudo-American accent! But to a generation not brought up with ‘Love yous’ sprinkled generously through every day conversation, it was quite jarring.  We were brought up tough, by parents who knew love was an action verb, demonstrated by deeds, not words.  Besides, saying ‘Love you’ without the word ‘I’ in front, is less scary, more generic. 

So we were blessed frequently by our God-fearing parents.  The word ‘bless-ed’ pronounced in two syllables, is often used as a greeting in Jamaica, with ‘blessings’, and ‘bless-up yourself’ being other variations.  But the word is tied closely with being grateful, being full of gratitude, for the things in life which you have, or which happen to you.  Which is not necessarily tied to wealth or possessions.  When I looked up the word Beatification, I found the definition associated with the Roman Catholic church who use it to denote the act of a person (who has died) receiving the title of ‘blessed’, along with limited religious honor.  But an earlier definition of beatify, is: to make someone supremely happy.

Yesterday in the USA, being the fourth Thursday in November, was Thanksgiving Day.  Of course, we can go with the origin (mostly mythical) story that tracks it back to the early arrival of colonizers on this land and the generosity of the indigenous people who generously shared food with them, and saved the foreigners (some may say illegal and undocumented immigrants) from starving to death.  The day was officially proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, following the Battle of Gettysburg, when over 50,000 died, and was one of several such proclamations during the Civil War.  It was not just to be a day of giving thanks, but also to ‘…fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.’

It would seem that today, in a world divided, in a country which seems to be more polarized than ever, it would do us good to focus on healing wounds and restoring ‘peace, harmony, tranquility and Union’.  This week has seen another act of senseless violence (when is violence ever sensible?).  Unfortunately, we see the leaders of this country rush, in the first hours after the shooting in our nation’s capital, to identify motive, assign blame, ensure that the response is designed to escalate tensions and increase suspicion of ‘others’.  Words and actions that may be just as dangerous as the one that instigated them.

In the world of nursing, a profession to which I am proud to belong, actions taken by the Department of Education have riled up the largest healthcare profession.  The action puts a cap on how much money can be borrowed for graduate school, by limiting it to those degrees it includes in the category of ‘professional’.  Since nursing is not included in this category, this lit up the nursing world like a brush fire, and resulted in the DOE having to release a ‘Myth vs. Fact’ page on its website.  For nurses, who already feel like the most overworked, unappreciated, disrespected profession on the planet, this was yet another example.  On social media the response has been both troubling and amusing.  In case you don’t know, nurses have a very sick sense of humor, perhaps a result of having to deal with human tragedy and sadness, their way of coping and protecting their own emotional well-being.  But some of the funniest responses have been memes and posts demonstrating what ‘unprofessional nurses’ look like, freed from having to refrain from saying or doing the first thing that pops into their heads.

In a country which is already facing a nursing shortage, and a country where Nurse Practitioners (Advanced Practice nurses who rely on graduate loans to make it through school) fill a huge gap, especially in rural areas where the physician shortage is acute, the DOE action will result in real harm.  The so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ not only impacts graduate loans, but is also affecting hospitals, nursing homes and individuals who rely on the Affordable Care Act for their health insurance.  The healthcare outcomes will not be good, in a country which already came tenth out of ten nations in performance, access to care, equity and health outcomes (2024, Commonwealth Report). 

In 1977, the King of Bhutan said that Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product, and the nation started making long-term national decisions with that in mind.  They emphasized concepts that lead towards psychological well-being, such as health, education, cultural and community activities.  The goal is not focused on individuals, so much as on the general population. Although they were not included in a 2024 Gallup poll which names the ‘happiest countries in the world’ due to technical reasons, the philosophy is one we wish could be replicated in a country which supposedly sees as self-evident: ‘That all men are created equal’, and have the rights to ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’.   

This Friday morning, when, if we are blessed, then we should not only be grateful but should work on helping our fellowmen achieve ‘supreme happiness’.  In the words of Max Ehrman: ‘And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.’

Have a wonderful weekend, Family!

One Love!

Namaste.