Two weeks into the new year and what have we learned. We still cannot overcome death and nature, we are still overly obsessed with celebrities and the war in Iraq, peace in Israel/Sudan are still a long way off.
Technically the tsunami occurred prior to the new year, but since we are still finding survivors and bodies it might as well be considered as part of 2005.
This last week in California I read about the deaths of many due to weather related causes. Compared to the tsunami the numbers seem trivial, but they made an impact upon me. A mother and daughter were being evacuated from a flood. As the helicopter lifted them up the mother lost her grip on her two-year-old daughter...The girl didn't make it.
A father went out for ice cream and returned home in time to see a wall of mud wipe out his home where his wife and three daughters waited. Hopes and prayers were dashed when rescuers found their bodies.
A pregnant woman's car stalled in waters that rose over the highway. She called her husband and told him that she was nervous. He called 911 and headed out to meet her. She climbed out of the car and the water swept her into a fence where she was able to hold on for a few moments before losing her grip. There is no happy ending to this story.
In the midst of all of this I still hear/read bits and pieces about why Brad and Jennifer broke up. I could rail on about the injustice of this, cry out about misplaced priorities. There is validity in that, but there is also the reality that life never stops moving. There is no one person, no celebrity, no politician, member of royalty or otherwise who can stop the world. At best you might gain a moment of silence, but nothing more.
And that is the way it should be. As cruel as that may seem, life must continue, people must move and live. It is part of what makes human beings resilient. We live and we die. And in our darker moments when we have trouble finding our way, there needs to be some light in the darkness. We need a reminder that we can rebuild and learn how to love life again.
So there is a place and a reason for the foolish and the trivial. The hard part sometimes is distinguishing the important from the less so.
Folks, hug your loved ones, make sure they hear you say that you love them and remember that there is much good in the world.
2 comments:
I remember returning years ago from the funeral of a man who had so much to offer and had, in fact, done so while he was alive. His death was from a stupid complication of an operation which, in itself, was a success. As I was lamenting to an older and wiser friend about this sad and premature loss and the fact that so many societal leeches and parasites seem to live forever, he said something really profound to me. Simple...but profound. He just looked at me and said "one has not to do with the other. You cannot connect the two because they are of unequal value." I think of that often when I view the vagaries of life and want to "storm..."
You have spoken here with the wisdom that, alas, many do not have even when they are older. Excellent post, Jack.
Watch a few friends die and you either develop a new perspective on life or go nuts.
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