I met a friend for coffee at a neighborhood shop last week. We hadn’t gotten together for some time and I’d missed our chats. The minute she walked through the door I could see the malaise that hung about her. Outwardly, she looked well. Her hair was recently trimmed and she was s

Each Christmas eve I join a couple for lunch to celebrate our long friendship and to enjoy good conversation. On this occasion, the wife sighed, over her plate of macaroni and cheese, and said she was appalled that so many people believe the world is going to-hell-in- a-hand -basket .