For anyone who has been or is paying attention, it should be patently obvious by now that we live in neither a just nor a moral nor humane society. This is, as I never tire of saying, certainly not an American problem. It is a worldwide problem, and it is being aggravated by those who should know better: the so-called 1st World. That they are only #1 in their own minds is clear to anyone who takes the time to seriously look at what they say and do.
It's not easy. Nothing is easy these days. We're face every day with challenges, problems, issues, concerns, family, friends, our bosses ... Lord, knows what else, and I am the first to admit that the desire to simply be left alone, to not have to think about it all, to just have a break, to catch one's breath is, well, almost overwhelming in and of itself. The other side of the coin, though, is that if we don't do anything about anything, it all just gets all that much worse.
Still, I know there are some of you who take the days lighter and less stressful. You don't have to work anymore, you've got at least the boss of your back, the kids are grown and on their own, you've got a grandchild or two (and we all know that at the end of the day, we can simply give them back to their rightful owners), you can afford to take a more relaxed view of the world ... or can you, really?
You see, for as much as we would like to think that we've got our own ship safely into harbor, that we've done our part and now someone else is responsible, that we've earned the right to simply be left alone ... well, I hate to disappoint you, but there's no such thing. As long as you're a denizen of this misguided planet of ours, you're on duty. Anything and everything happens is just as much a concern to you as it is to everyone else. There is -- in a word -- no getting off the hook. Too bad, so sad.
You see, as long as you're alive, you carry part of the responsibility for what the world is like, how things are running ... in your own little corner, of course, but also in the larger scale of things. What you do, and how you act, in small, has a direct influence on how things are in general. If you are mean, stingy, harsh, or harmful in your own little world, well, at a minimum, the world has a nasty spot that simply won't get better on its own. What surprises me, however, is how many people I know think that what they do, how they feel, and what they say has absolutely no impact on the world at large. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If you harbor bad thoughts toward your neighbor, or if you don't get involved when your neighbor is getting a raw deal; if you think everyone else is at fault, or if you don't want to admit that you might be contributing to the fault; if you look down on others and refuse to help where you can, or if you think it's none of your concern how anyone else is doing, well, you're just part of the problem, no more and certainly no less.
Think about it: if you are kinder, gentler, less likely to get riled; if you are more concerned, thoughtful, and willing to give (even if it is only to those you know or who are close to you in some way); if you are more aware, more reflective, more critical of whatever is being shoved at you out of the TV, well, you stand a chance of simply becoming a better person and of making the world just a slight bit better. It doesn't cost anything, and the rewards just might be more abundant than you ever imagined.
What can it hurt? Give it a try.
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