“We look at what we have and decide to get along.”
Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bible
There’s a lot to unpack here. Inventory of assets or a situation. Decision. And getting along-there’s where the rubber meets the road. What does it mean to get along in one’s present circumstances? There are various answers to that, depending on the back story.
Get Along Little Dogies: move along, orphan calves.
Gonna Get Along Without You Now: leaving a relationship.
Go along to get along: compromise in political situations, or to resolve an argument.
Getting along with the boss: a harmonious workplace.
In the context of Kingsolver’s story, getting along meant facing famine and drought and figuring out how a population might find ways to survive. Unless you have family stories of the Great Depression, you may not be able to imagine what that kind of desperation is like. Ranchers and farmers whose ancestors hung on through that time realize they are always on the edge of disaster. In good years, it’s easy to forget that this is really drought country. On the northern plains, two dry winters in a row, incessant spring winds, prairie fires, and economic instability require us to re-think seasonal planning and market expectations. To get along with what is on hand and make decisions about the difference between wants and needs.
Getting along is mostly about acceptance and focusing on the present. It usually involves giving up something. For agriculture, it might mean getting along with the banker. Planting less ground, decreasing the herd, repairing machinery rather than trading something off. There’s trickle down to the family; no eating out, reduced travel, wearing hand-me downs. Trickle down for the community, fewer shoppers and crowds at gatherings. Bottom line, it comes down to deciding and following through, and it’s personal.
If we all decided to get along with what we have, our nation, and the world, would look a lot different, but the key word here is decide. That means giving up victim mentality, assessing our resources, and choosing how to utilize them. Decisions give us a bit of control, even in matters involving weather, and alleviate the notion that we are helpless.
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air, on a personal level, nationally, and globally. The best decision we can make is to get along with what we have and use kindness to ease everyone’s journey.
Meet me here next week and meanwhile, do your best to get along. Somebody might like it.