Angels

Editor: I have two dear friends whose mental states resulted in crises that would have been fatal but for the appearance of angels. These friends have reminded me that the human heart, capable of unimaginable compassion, is our best part. People who are rich, educated, and live in a free society can easily succumb to the illusion that they are in control of their lives. My friends have taught me that we can find contentment, possibly for the first time, when we yield control to angels, accepting the love that binds us all together.

Our clever brains often prevent us from accepting this force of attraction that surrounds and infuses us. When angels intervene on our behalf, we call it good luck or coincidence, and with those labels sometimes tell ourselves that we deserve our good fortune. Jesus told us to become like little children, trusting and compassionate, open to magic.

Angels like to work through strangers. My two friends now live in nursing homes, surrounded not only by caregivers but also by new people, all of whom have stories. As with little children, the line between fact and fiction is no longer important. Kind visitors do not insist on accuracy when listening to old stories. Life goes forward, and it can hurt when old friends remind us of what we have lost. New friendships become stepping stones to the next life.

Angels need us to communicate with each other. My two friends, thousands of miles apart, are alive because of one network, partly very old, partly very new, one built through visits, handwritten letters, and phone calls, the other facilitated through the internet. The connection only needed people to care enough to act.

Our materialistic culture fuels the illusion that we are independent. Our private homes seem to serve us well. But palaces can become prisons, and sometimes we need angels to teach us the benefits of our social nature. Perhaps, too, like the Finns, Americans, long addicted to dopamine highs, can come to value the gentle joy that is contentment. My friends, once defiantly proud of their independence, have learned how good it feels to be wrapped in a warm blanket.

Carolyn C. Peterson

Houghton

Right for the wrong reason

Dear Editor:

I am shocked to see that the local GOP, including Greg Markkanen, Ed McBroom, and Karl Bohnak are suddenly unhappy with Jambalaya Jack Bergman. But not for the reasons they should be.

While Jambalaya Jack has spent a decade in congress betraying his constituents in the UP and northern Michigan by voting to cut taxes on his billionaire buddies and shifting the tax burden onto middle class and working class Yoopers, the local GOP said nothing, because they completely agreed with him. Nor did they criticize any of his votes to take away access to healthcare and education or protections for workers or the environment, again because they supported the same reprehensible policies.

This past year, Markkanen and McBroom gave their full-throated support of Jambalaya Jack’s dereliction of duty during Trump’s increasingly authoritarian power grab and erosion of Constitutional balance of powers. Bergman vigorously cheered on the Toddler-in-Chief’s now illegal tariffs, which have only increased prices for hard-working Yoopers and hurt American businesses, in addition to voting to take away healthcare subsidies for low-income Yoopers. Trump’s weaponization of the Justice Department, illegal military actions in Venezuela, cutting funding for cancer research, and deployment of a Nazi SS-like private army called ICE have all found favor in Bergman’s eyes with the local GOP’s expressed blessing. Undoubtedly, they applauded his effort to undermine democracy by voting for the SAVE America Act, which would disenfranchise tens of millions of women before the 2026 midterms.

Instead Markkanen and McBroom’s beef with Jambalya Jack is that he backed a different party hack named LaFave with conflicts of interest benefiting him rather than their preferred party hack named Prestin.

Why is it only now that Markkanen and McBroom are suddenly clutching their pearls over the fact that Jack has never lived in the district he represents or that he is completely unaccountable to his constituents, holding no town halls nor responding to calls or emails, but rather showing up once a year for a carefully staged photo op?

Truthfully, McBroom and Markkanen are just as morally bankrupt and devoid of integrity as Bergman. They all share the same commitment to white supremacy and misogyny, as well as boosting up the fortunes of billionaires over the rest of us.

They should all be voted out of office so they can spend their retirement sipping iced tea and fanning themselves on the veranda of Jambalaya Jack’s Louisiana plantation.

Charles Goodwin

Hancock, MI