August 18--Ingenuity

To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power. 
--George Macdonald

    I occasionally consider what a mess we Americans would be in if something disabled our electric power grid or our sewer systems. We live a rather cushy life in the U.S., just with those two things functioning consistently. I have been in places where neither operated consistently, and yet life goes on. Resilient humans have the power to make things happen whatever the circumstances. The fewer the riches, the more one has to depend on one's ingenuity, and that is the true source of power--internal, not external. 

        Leta