Dear God,

Dear God,

Good morning,

Today, Hope got up early, and though I wanted to sleep more, I couldn’t. 

When I came downstairs, I saw this spectacular sunrise with peach, coral, and this gorgeous shade of sunflower yellow. 

Thanks for creating it.

These moments never get old.

I’m sleepy, but still grateful for another day of bonus time.

Since I’m up, and if you’re not too busy, can we talk?

I know time isn’t your jam, and we humans concocted it, but what’s up with the start of this year?

It feels like 2024 opened the door to 2025, and then 2025 said, “Hold my beer, I’ll show you how we do chaos.” I know people say you only give us what we can handle, but geez. It’s been a lot, and we still have two weeks left in January.

My heart breaks for those in L.A., as it does for everyone impacted by natural disasters, but with fire, nothing remains except ash and memories.

As you know, the Indigenous people have a saying, “Walk softly, so Mother Earth will not feel your weight, but your love.”

I’m not sure if you want to share this with her, but I want to say that I know she’s been whispering to us for the last century, and we haven’t listened. So now she’s turning up the volume—it’s not just these fires; it’s all of it. I’m not sure I can speak for everyone, but I want to say we’re sorry.

And what’s with the animosity that people are hurling at those suffering? What are we to make of it? We weren’t like this in the past, were we?

Are you still proud of us?

I will say that witnessing so many acting from a place of compassion is inspiring, but at the same time, I worry that our attention will soon pivot to the next breaking news alert – it feels like our heads are on swivels, whipping around every five minutes.

How much more can our nervous systems handle?

We live in a world of instability and insecurity. Yet I know living today is the best time ever to be alive – nostalgia can trick us into believing our best moments are behind us. Amazing things will happen this year, and we will create better tomorrows, but does it need to be so bananas?

Would it be all that bad if we slowed down just a bit and acted more thoughtfully?

By the way, how is President Carter? Is Heaven better because he’s there? Politics aside, he was a good man, and boy, did he take your Son’s Sermon on the Mount seriously. A simple peanut farmer left the world better than when he entered it, and that’s always a good leadership mark.

Another guy who made the world better was my Little League coach, Ron Brown, who told us when we were just ten – which is funny to think about because we were just kids – that “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

So, I wonder if the last few weeks were a sign.

If they were, can you blink twice or something?

Maybe it’s time to take a deep breath, put our phones down (hey, TikTok is dark), and remember that we’re tough and it’s time to get going.​

Perhaps the meaning of all this is remembering that the world changes through love or fear, and we get to choose where we focus our attention and actions.

Maybe that’s it…Maybe this is why all of this is happening.​

Oh, before you go. You know my Dad pretty well. He goes to church all the time. Well, he’s 88 and a massive Buffalo Bills and Notre Dame fan, and they’re doing really well this year.

You might see where this is going.

I would appreciate it if you could put your finger on the scale to help them. You seem to do this a lot for athletes and celebrities – they’re always thanking you as they celebrate. So, I hope you don’t mind me asking. But if we can, let’s keep this just between us; he doesn’t want any special favors.

Give my best to the other baristas, Mother Earth and The Universe, who also fill up my M.U.G. Let them know we can do better. Thanks for listening. 

Now, I’m going to press pause, enjoy my latte, wipe the remaining sleep from my eyes, and allow you to get back to creating amazing sunrises.

May peace be with us.

Michael

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Thank you to everyone who bought a Choose Compassion Sweatshirt to support The California Fire Foundation. I plan to make our donation tomorrow morning, so you still have a few hours left to order and support. 

Discover the White T-Shirt Practices for better health in this week’s Kintsugi Podcast (15 min listen). You can find it on most podcast platforms and through this link.