If we are not careful, the chaos and madness of our world can overwhelm our thoughts and leave us emotionally numb or worse. I feel it. We live each day with reports of a relentless onslaught of shocking criminal violence. We are deluged with political lies and opponent-bashing of our increasingly uncivil political actors. We are treated to news videos that catch property-destroying protests, followed by personal news testimonies of the wreckage left after horrible, raging fires, floods and ice storms. And, to top it all off, the ceaseless haranguing and pontificating of puny-minded social media pundits can push my buttons and bring about a combination of infuriation and despair. Add to that the daily tally of missiles, bombs, sunken ships and fatalities, and I find myself singing that old song, “stop the world, I want to get off!”  

Have you ever found yourself carrying a deep sense of anguish mixed with anger almost every day? Are you, like me, afraid your heart is building up a hard protective shell to keep the pain from becoming debilitating? I have, and it bothers me. I hate that there are times when I don’t feel as badly as I should when senseless murder, mayhem and tragedy dominate........

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