Day: December 14, 2025
Person of interest in custody following deadly shooting at Brown University
Providence Chief of Police Colonel Oscar L. Perez Jr. confirmed that a person of interest in the Brown University mass shooting is now in custody.
In anxious times, Advent points us back to the only joy this world can’t shake
Pastor Jentezen Franklin explains how Christmas offers lasting joy beyond seasonal happiness, revealing how divine hope helps control anxiety and fear.
Needle-free glucose checks move closer to reality
MIT develops needle-free glucose monitor using light technology. Revolutionary device could replace painful finger pricks for diabetes management.
Trump’s election win filled Hamas with ‘fear,’ hostage held like ‘slave’ for 505 days recounts
Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov spent 505 days in Hamas captivity after the Oct. 7 attack and witnessed terrorists’ reaction to Trump’s presidential election win.
Current, former ESPN pundits hint that potential Black coaches could be affected by Sherrone Moore’s firing
Sherrone Moore faces criminal charges after his firing from Michigan for an alleged relationship with a staffer, sparking debate among sports figures about accountability and race.
Ex-SJSU volleyball coach defends female player from trans athlete’s disputed claims
Former San Jose State volleyball assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose defended Brooke Slusser against disputed claims made by transgender teammate Blaire Fleming.
American Culture Quiz: Test yourself on winter wish lists and tasty trends
The American Culture Quiz is a weekly test of our unique national traits, trends, history and people. This time, test your knowledge of winter wish lists and tasty trends.
Celebrity trainer says Tennessee community saved his 5-year-old daughter during cancer battle
Celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson shared how his “terrific” community rallied around his family when daughter Monroe was diagnosed with leukemia in 2024.
Always running late? The real cost to your relationships may surprise you
Discover why chronic lateness stems from psychology, ADHD and “time blindness.” An expert reveals underlying causes and strategies to overcome persistent tardiness.
The courage we lost is hiding in the simplest places
If you’ll indulge one more cabin story, it’s only because remodeling an unlevel structure may be the clearest metaphor for the challenges caregivers face — and, I suspect, for the condition of America itself.
Out here in rural Montana, you learn quickly that when a project needs doing, you can pay a lot for it, wait a long time, use duct tape, or learn to do it yourself. Usually it’s some combination of the four. And while I’ve adapted to that reality, certain home-improvement tasks still give me the willies — mainly anything with a blade spinning fast enough to launch lumber toward Yellowstone National Park.
There is something life-giving about facing the hard thing in front of us instead of avoiding it.
Who knew you needed a helmet to cut boards?
I’ve been a pianist longer than I’ve been a caregiver, and since my hands pay the bills, I prefer to keep all my fingers intact. Let’s just say that when it comes to carpentry, I can really play the piano.
Recently we removed an old door in our cabin and needed to rebuild the wall. Help was delayed, so I decided to tackle it myself. The wall wasn’t the problem. The miter saw was. When I noticed the blade catching the afternoon light, it looked downright smug.
It knew.
Still I’ve met many builders in our county, and only one is missing a finger. Thankfully none answer to “Lefty.” If they can keep their body parts, maybe I can too. My rule is simple: Measure 17 times, cut once — and do it slowly.
So I got to work. In an old cabin nothing is plumb, so my level and I argued for quite a while. Even so, the studs went in, something close to square took shape, and despite a few caregiving interruptions, the wall was framed by sundown.
I was proud of myself. I took pictures. I bragged a little. Some builders may roll their eyes, but I’d do the same if they bragged about playing “Chopsticks.”
But it wasn’t really the blade. It was the fear behind it — the fear of getting something wrong, of creating a problem I couldn’t undo. And that fear isn’t limited to carpentry. When we let fear or anxiety keep us from picking up the tool and learning, whole parts of our lives remain unfinished.
We live in half-built cabins — studs exposed, projects stalled, confidence untested because we never moved toward the thing that intimidates us.
America was built by people who weren’t afraid to try hard things. They carved farms out of wilderness. Built railroads with crude tools. Raised barns without safety manuals. When something broke, they fixed it; when they didn’t know how, they learned anyway. Imperfectly, but persistently.
That spirit carried us for generations. Today we struggle to find it.
We’ve created a culture that treats effort as optional and discomfort as a crisis. We warn people not to push themselves. We offer labels and excuses instead of encouragement. We outsource everything, including our resilience. Hard things are treated as unsafe instead of character-building.
Many believe our greatest dangers are political, economic, or global. Maybe. But something quieter may be worse: We are losing the courage to try.
I say that as someone who has spent 40 years as a caregiver. Disease, trauma, addiction, aging — none of it yields to effort or skill. Day after day, fighting a battle you cannot win wears down confidence. Caregiving rarely gives you the satisfaction of a finished job or something tangible you can hold in your hands.
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kudou via iStock/Getty Images
But tackling something you can finish, even if it makes the hair on your neck stand up, pushes back against that erosion of self-reliance. There is courage in doing the thing we’d rather avoid. When we take on something small but intimidating, we rediscover a steadiness we thought we’d lost — not bravado, not swagger, just the quiet certainty that we can still learn, grow, and accomplish something in a world that feels increasingly out of control.
And sometimes the payoff is simple. It’s something you can point to. That framed doorway in my cabin isn’t perfect, but it stands as proof that I stepped toward something unfamiliar and did it anyway. In a culture that avoids discomfort, even one small visible victory becomes fuel for courage. It tells you that you can do the next thing too.
As Emerson put it, a person who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life. There is something life-giving about facing the hard thing in front of us instead of avoiding it.
That is the spirit America needs again — not bluster or political chest-thumping, but ordinary people choosing to try the hard thing right in front of them.
I will probably always be nervous around saws, but that doorway reminds me that courage often appears in the quiet places where we decide to try.
And there is absolutely no shame in wearing a helmet.
