Do you ever wake up some mornings and wonder if the world went crazy during the night?

Yesterday morning on the Today Show, there was a report about a mentally ill woman dying on the waiting room floor of a psychiatric emergency room in New York City. The last hour of her life was caught on the security videotape. Two security guards, a doctor, and a nurse are all seen on the videotape doing nothing to help that woman.

As one commentator on the story stated, “It’s not like she was in a bus terminal. She was in a place where you expect to get help when you need it.”

Today I watched a report on a spree murderer getting caught in the Midwest (8 victims—all seemingly random) and another of a mother being stabbed and killed when she wouldn’t give her keys to a carjacker (her baby was in the car). Two of her children (along with her ex-husband) appeared live on the show, and we were all in tears at the end of that interview—including Meredith Vieira.

Watching the morning programs is not always good for my psyche. Often, what follows the stories of murder and cruelty are stories about Brad and Angelina getting ready for the twins or what hot dog is the best for your upcoming Fourth of July barbecue (which was the case this morning).

It’s enough to give a viewer psychological whiplash.

Life is full of horrible, awful, unfair, cruel, torturous, unthinkable things. Life is full of beautiful, amazing, joy-filled, wondrous, loveable, celebratory things.

It’s a mystery, and some days I don’t know what to do with it.

This was all rolling around in my head this morning as I was driving to work (Life sucks. Life is beautiful.) when my 3-year-old nephew came to my mind. The one with the blond hair, big blue eyes, and the giggle that makes me laugh. The one who calls me Aunt Barbie and tried to convince me on the phone last night that it was his birthday, not his mommy’s (which wasn’t true, by the way). The one who would declare a national holiday for doughnuts, if he were ever elected President.

And it made me smile.

I didn’t solve anything. I didn’t figure anything out. And I didn’t necessarily feel any better about all the horrible things I had heard about the last couple of days.

But that little dude gives me hope.

 I can live with a whole lot of mystery if I have hope.