Blessing

I just finished reading Blessing by Lyn Cote. It's a romance set in 1848 in Cincinnati, Ohio, between a Boston blueblood and a Quakeress. I brought it home because when I went to deposit a large biography of Howard Hughes in the Little Free Library, I couldn't fit it in without taking a book out. Blessing was the most attractive of the remaining books, and it looked like a quick read.

It was a quick read; I had it in my house for barely 48 hours and finished it in time to take it back to the box today. What I didn't expect was to find it so on point for today's issues. The main reasons why the blueblood and the Quakeress don't immediately tie the knot are: racism, class consciousness, corruption, vice, unequal rights before the law, money, guilt, and shame. Slavery looms large, officially in the background, but lust, greed, and alcoholism, along with drug use, torment the people around our heroes. These things lead to slavery, too.

In 2025 we're dealing with a corrupt government led by money, riddled with vice; our brothers and sisters are being treated like second or third class citizens due to race, origin, and poverty. Ignorance and lack of understanding combined with guilt and shame are breaking apart families due to gender issues.

The cure for all of this has not changed: Be honest; be patient; be kind. Forgive. Explain, and listen without condemning. Try to understand, and when you don't understand, be kind anyway.

Jesus Christ would have it so.