Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Some Thoughts That Maybe a Few Will Read


Sometimes I feel like we’re entering end-times, here. The planet is reaching the tipping point to no return, with all the glaciers melting, the oceans rising, the climate changing, and species disappearing from existence on a daily basis. As if that weren’t enough, we now have a new illness in our midst, one that no one has immunity to as of yet, and one that has left entire nations scrambling for the best way to keep their citizens safe while taking care of those who have fallen victim to this pandemic.

Scary times, to put it mildly.

And current headlines, while informative, do nothing to make me feel any better. News across the board seems frighteningly negative, from what the stock market is doing and all the way to what government is (or isn’t) doing to get a handle on the situation. And if that weren’t enough, there are all those pandemic-related stories that illustrate the darker side of our species. Stories about hoarding, about those who would scam frightened citizens, those others who would hoard vital supplies or gouge people who might have need of them. Read enough, and one can begin to understand how the Salem Witch Trials could happen. When panic sets in, logic, reason, and apparently, compassion, all go out the window.

On the other hand, there are also some very heartening stories. There was the nice lady who grocery shopped for an elderly couple who were afraid to go into the store. There are the donations certain celebrities have been giving to local food banks, knowing that the loss of future paychecks while we try to flatten the curve will hit so many people in the worst way. I’m sure there are people everywhere doing nice things, kind things, that are helpful and life-affirming.

And it occurred to me that in all this craziness, in this high tide of bleak and frightening events, maybe we have a chance for a system reboot. Maybe out of necessity, people around the world will start to remember that in the end, we’re all just trying to do the same thing: have a safe and peaceful life, raise healthy and happy children, and then grow old getting to spend time with our grandkids—and maybe even great grandkids—before stepping peacefully out of this life ourselves. It’s really the bottom line of human existence. And then we let things like, oh, greed, selfishness, desire for power, fear and ignorance, get in the way.

But right now, if we want to survive (and if we want our planet to survive), we really need to pull together, put the differences aside (since most “differences” are a perception thing anyway), and work to save ourselves and our planet. So that our kids and our grandkids can grow old in peace themselves.

That would be the hope. That would be the prayer. And that would be the dream. We’re kind of on the brink, no? I’m too frightened to think about what could happen if we don’t pull ourselves back from that precipice. So I guess I have to focus on hope, instead.

I know not many people read this blog. I get stats on how my posts are doing, and when I look at them, the numbers drop severely on Blog Thursday. Probably because most of my pieces might seem too long to read, and I get that—time is short, these days. In light of that, I decided to post something completely different this time around, since there aren’t that many people reading this anyway. But I think it would have been dishonest of me not to talk about what’s happening right now, even for just this one post. For those of you who actually read this, thanks for bearing with me. I hope to be back to my usual beat next week.

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