“Take short views, hope for the best, and trust in God.”
Like many of you, before I knew anything about Sydney Smith or even his name I’d read his famous line half a dozen times. (Online in the 21st Century the first 5 hits on Sydney Smith—with pix–are a flexible, somewhat clad gymnast displaying herself on TikTok.)
I still don’t know much about my Sydney Smith, but his easy-going, early-19th Century Church of England Christianity invites update for these our dark 21st-Century times: “Take somewhat longer views, dim your lights for oncoming traffic, steer to miss, hope for the best, and don’t overly trust that God’s plan is congruent with our hope.”
“You must have been working on that one for a while,” my pal Al said.
“True. I tried it out in this morning’s Meeting.”
“And…?”
“One of our most forthright members said he’d like to add something important . . . “
“Yes?”
“Anticipation,” he said. “I’m a retired truck driver. Believe me. You’ve always got to be anticipating what may happen down the road.”
“I thought I’d covered that with ‘somewhat longer views’ . . .”
“Close,” he said, perhaps implying “too cute.”
“Anyhow, I added ‘check your brakes’ after ‘Take somewhat longer views,’ and I think we agreed we’d more clearly expressed the need these days for greater caution than in Sydney Smith’s days.”
Al said, “I don’t think you were talking black ice or Gobbi Street or amusing phrasings.”
“True. Someone in Meeting had said she was afraid to write a letter to the UDJ about Trump. Afraid of local retaliation.”
–Al and I looked at each other.
The fearsome toxicity (Justice Sotomayor called it “stench”) of our national political atmosphere has wafted into our small town. Small town: each of us knows a lot of us, and each of us knows a lot about some of us. That’s the unsentimental, fertile ground of civility. A cynic says we’re hostages to each other. An idealist says we love one another. Whatever. The practical outcome is that we live in peace, vote on many matters, accept the outcome (sometimes 49 percent of us grumbling) and have lunch at Mama’s, Tues-Fri, 7:30-2, Sat, 9 a.m.-1.
Meanwhile the President in Washington lets the Word go forth to the January 6 mob in D.C. “…we’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you, we’re going to walk down, we’re going to walk down. Anyone you want, but I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol…” (NPR transcript) and in January, 2025, the Word goes forth that his convicted Capitol rioters will be pardoned, while in February the Word is that asylum-seekers—without proof—will be labeled worst of the worst and sent in shackles to Guantanamo, and that an 18th Century law allows him to deploy his U.S. Army against civilians on U.S. soil…and a civilian in Ukiah is afraid to write a letter to the UDJ about Trump.
W.H. Auden wrote about the start of WW2: “Waves of anger and fear/ Circulate over the bright/ And darkened lands of the earth,/ Obsessing our private lives…” A civilian in Ukiah is afraid to write a letter about Trump to the UDJ.–Understandably afraid, I now add. In this nation of 340 million men, women, children there are 400 million guns in civilian hands, in bedside tables, concealed carry holsters, open carry invitations to a mugging, etc. Most of those gun-owners are at least as law-abiding as I, but it only takes one aggrieved nut-case . . .
A good joke can ease tension for a while. My current favorite is “You can’t write felon without elon.” Yet such jokes have overtones of whistling past the graveyard of our representative republic.–Courage, neighbors! I’m told the first step teaches one how to take the second. Today, Eyster. In due course tomorrow’s letter will write itself in your hand or on your keyboard. Subject? Vicious monarchs, and we’re not talking butterflies here.
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