I've been thinking this past week about our country, the unrest, the bitterness I see in some people and the overwhelming sadness I see in others.  It is so difficult some days to put an uplifting spin on what the world looks like, even in our little slice of Heaven.  And, truthfully I don't think being fake just to make someone else happy is appropriate or fair.  That type of fake is right up there, in my book, with fake news and superficiality.  I don't know how to be that way, and even if I did, how shallow would that make me.

I have hurts, days of overwhelming sorrow, when the world seems to be caving in, and days of overwhelming joy, when the sun is shining through the rain.  Some days the brokenness I see is a weight, much like the chains Marley wore in "A Christmas Carol".  Those weights can be a burden but they can also be the impetus that helps us make our corner of the world a little brighter.

Over the holidays our library put up a "Giving Tree".  I don't know if any of you have ever read the book "The Giving Tree"  by Shel Silverstein, it is one of my favorite books of all time.  Before you jump in and say, "Oh, that book is so sad, how can you like it".  Let me share why it is and will continue to be one of my favorites.  No matter what stage of life the boy in the story is in, the tree, who loved him, gave him leaves, a trunk to climb, shade, apples to eat and when he got older, to sell.  I won't spoil the story for you but suffice it to say, the tree was happy, if the boy was happy, and in the end that was all that mattered.  Some people who read this story get so mad at the boy for continually asking the tree to give and give, but if you read the story closely you will see that the boy never really ask, the tree offered once the boy presented the need.  That, dear readers is a story that has become a reality for us.

Our "giving tree" was just a small tree decorated with paper squares that contained numbers.  Each number represented a patron who had a fine on their account.  Maybe that fine was a barrier to them.  A reason why they could not or would not come back to the library.  Maybe that fine was too large for them to pay, perhaps they had to make a choice between paying that fine or having enough money for a meal or gas to get to work.  We don't really know the reason.  What we do know, is of those 56 patrons, every one of their fines were paid in full through the generosity of other patrons who came in during the month of December.  

Wow, a ray of light right in the middle of the library.  A reason to smile and say, the world is good even if it does not look that way.  A little of the weight lifted because the barrier became a door to walk through.  So many of those patrons I called ask how they could pay it forward and they did, some coming in and paying for someone else.  I did not have to don a fake smile, my smeyes smiled (after all, we are wearing masks) and my heart is full.  I never lost faith in humanity it just dimmed around the edges.  I saw that generous spirit the people of the Northern Neck continue to share and I marveled at how this is now my part of the world to.  Thank you to the people who live in Northumberland County, you are a beacon.  May you continue to shine your lights and not hide them under bushels, even when that might be the easy thing to do.

Until next time.  Your Not So Quiet Librarian!