A Holiday Reminder

Whatever you may think of Washington DC's road to health reform, the Fat Lady reminds us that we need to put things into perspective. Recall the Fat Lady is the savior in J.D. Salinger's classic Franny and Zooey. Franny is overwrought by the misplaced passions of her time. After considerable struggle and prayer, Franny achieves a newfound insight about what really counts. J.D Salinger wonderfully describes how Franny's anxiety evaporates in the face of knowing What Is Truly Important. She sees the way through and the transcendent Fat Lady is not surprised.

Of course, J.D. Salinger can't take full credit for the metaphor. The Disease Management Care Blog thinks much of the credit goes to an event that occurred 2000 years ago. While Rome was no Washington DC, its citizens were acutely aware of the influence of power, the role of alliances and the struggles that resulted in winners and losers. Little did anyone realize that those temporal ingredients would fade in importance thanks to stunningly new insights on how to deal with the world. All this and much more thanks to a small baby born in a small outpost of the Roman Empire.

The DMCB has been to Washington DC and it's full of statues of dead people. Every one of them did something important and the DMCB thanks every single one of them. It is also thankful to its President and the members of Congress for their efforts on health reform, as well as all the other stuff they're doing. In fact, it wouldn't be surprised if a Senator or two gets recognition with a statue.

However, the Fat Lady doesn't care about that. She is looking deeper at each one of us with a far different measuring stick. This Holiday Season is a good time to pause and be thankful for that gift of insight.