Today, I received an email reminding me that the cold and flu season is upon us. Last Spring, I caught what I thought was just a spring cold or my annual bout with allergies. As it turned out, I had the flu, and I needed to stay home because I was contagious. The memory of being contagious returned to me like the first rain of the season, necessary and welcomed. My thoughts on the matter shifted to the meaning of being contagious; “communicable on contact.” I felt my heart beg the question of what if, the very best of us is communicable upon contact? What can others contract or learn from being in our presence? I believe that if love, peace, kindness, grace, justice, faith, hope, joy and (I could go on)are ever going spread across the land; we are going to have to understand that we are, in this case, called to choose connection over isolation. The prescription is not one that eradicates or erodes what is present in us. It is the loving reminder to throw open the windows of the soul and pour out the very best of ourselves into the world around us. We do this through contact with others, which is a necessary part of the curriculum of being human. I hope that today, your smile, your story of courage, your empathetic response to the needs of others, and your most simplistic “Yes” is the contagion that pervades all else.