The Palisadian-Post presents an homage to Will Rogers’ column, “Will Rogers Says,” with a column by Palisadian Jimmy Dunne—on life in the “greatest town in America.”

‘Lent’

There’s a great old tradition in the Catholic church. Lent.

It’s where you give up something for the weeks before Easter.

Lots of other religions have similar practices.

Maybe it’s candy, or cocktails, or desserts, or cigarettes, or soda, or watching some idiot, mind-rotting TV series, or french fries or bread. Could be anything.

You end up feeling better. You feel like you stuck to something and did it. And, sometimes, you give up something that you might end up giving up long after Lent is over.

One of my favorite moronic movies was “Kicking and Screaming” with Will Ferrell—it’s where he’s an obnoxious coach of a little girls’ soccer team. He has an epiphany and changes his ways, and gets his team of little girls around him in a huddle at their big game. His words of advice are, “Whatever I told you before—do the opposite.”

Maybe that’s the trick. Instead of taking something away from our lives—we add something.

Maybe it’s adding something that makes our world a better place.

Maybe it’s writing a short hand-written note that you stick in the mailbox to somebody that doesn’t expect it. Maybe it’s making a point to knock on the door of that older woman who you know spends too much time having to be alone.

Maybe it’s on your early morning walk with your dog—and picking up everybody’s morning paper and setting it by their door.

Maybe it’s promising yourself that in every restaurant you visit—you stick your head in the kitchen, look in the eyes of the cooks and tell them how much you appreciate what they made for you.

Maybe it’s calling somebody in your family—and letting ’em know about all the little things they’ve done over the years that you are so grateful for.

Maybe it’s making a point to really look your spouse in the eyes when she’s talking and telling her, with just your look—how beautiful she truly is.

We’re all hurting every day watching and reading about the families in Ukraine. We’re all anxious about where this all leads. We’re all sad to be reminded of the barbaric, unconscionable damage one person’s actions can have on the world.

While at the same time, images of the baby strollers that Polish women left at their local train stations for incoming Ukrainian moms—remind us all of what humanity means.

And reminds us how connected we all really are.

We’re all wrestling with what we can do to help. We’re all wrestling with feeling so hopeless that we know what’s going on—trying to figure out how we can touch the Ukrainians in some way.

Maybe doing a small act of good, right in our towns, right in our own lives—will, for a moment, temper our fears and anxiousness.

And I hope, when that Ukrainian mom walks off that train and sees that empty baby stroller greeting her—I hope she knows.

I hope she knows that behind that beautiful Polish woman who dropped it off—is a whole world of people.

Jimmy Dunne is modern-day Renaissance Man; a hit songwriter (28 million hit records), screenwriter/producer of hit television series, award-winning author, an entrepreneur—and a Palisadian “Citizen of the Year.” You can reach him at j@jimmydunne.com.