“We weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.”

On a visit to the dentist he

met a careless person. He

pondered the meaning of

the encounter. This person

seemed like fun and that’s

important when one is visit-

ing the dentist, but….He

thought of Gatsby and Nick

telling Gatsby that Daisy and

her husband, fun people to be

sure, were careless people.

They cared less; they didn’t

take care…of what or whom?

Perhaps both; surely both.

Gatsby didn’t take care, either

— of himself. Then he re-

membered a careful person

and he liked thinking about

this person – a  person who

was full of care…for what

or whom? Definitely both.

This person cared fully about

life – the things and the people.

He thought about how you

knew when you were in this

person’s presence you were

cared for. Sometimes this

person cared so much that

it hurt and it hurt him to see

this person hurt, but as much

as it hurt him, it was so much

better to be with the careful

person than to be with the

careless one because with

the careless person he knew

he would feel cared for less. So

he took the pain over the mere

passing pleasure just to be with

the person who was careful,

ever so careful, with him…even

if it was just in the pleasure

of his thoughts as he sat in

the dentist’s chair and heard

the dentist say, “Open wide.”