Man, O Man

Tomorrow ends one class and starts another.  I used to be so good in school -- what happened?  I guess waiting 15 years between classes can have that affect on a guy.  Anyway, philosophy is done, now on to biology.  Seems a little backwards.  Shouldn't you learn how everything goes together before you try to take it all apart?  That's how it goes, though, sometimes.  Meanwhile, today we have a celebration of life for a family to remember a loved one who has passed.  Funerals are often introspective times, and I'm no exception.  As we look at someone whose life on earth is done, it's natural to look at your own and ask, "When my life is done, what will people say of me -- what will my legacy be that I leave?"  Other than typing this, though, I don't really feel that today.  Today is more about moving forward, seeing what is coming next, preparing for the challenges ahead.  Our future is about as uncertain as it can be, yet at the same time, it has never changed.  We all will have our chance to be the one remembered someday.  It's what we do between now and then that matters.

So, how do you plan on changing the world today?  Tomorrow?  That's the question we should all be asking ourselves.  We can't assume someone else will change it for us, so we must be doing what is necessary to see the change happen.  I think that's the problem with our current President's platform.  He ran on change, then expects everyone else to do the work.  He's not the only one.  Probably everyone who voted for him did the same thing.  And those who didn't, well, they probably are sitting back and waiting for things to get bad so they can say, "told you so," then try to get their guy elected next.  No one wants to accept the blame, just the credit if something good happens.  That's no way to live a fulfilled life, though, much less run a country.  We're all so busy trying to get everything for ourselves that we've forgotten how important community is.  No, it's more than that.  We've forgotten what it means to actually be in a community, what our responsibilities actually are as a member of that community.  Wasn't too long ago when an American thought of themselves as part of a big community.  Now, we've spent so much time trumpetting our differences that we've actually alienated ourselves from the people next door.  It's time we get back to what really matters, to the core issues, to caring for our neighbors -- I mean really caring for our neighbors -- and rather than celebrating our differences, how about celebrating what makes us the same.  I know people are going to say we do that already, but we don't.  If we did, would there be so much anger, vitriol, hate being directed by everyone at everyone?  I don't think so.

So, if you're expecting our next President to save us, you're hopelessly out of luck, doesn't matter who he is.  If you think you can fix your life on your own, again, you're out of luck.  And, seriously, if you think the community will save you, think again.  Community has about as much chance as empty religion.  There is one Relationship that will do it, but it means giving up everything to gain even more.  You'd think by now we'd be willing to give it all up.  After all, we've done such a great job on our own up til now, haven't we.

So, I may be the only one...

...who reads this, but sometimes we all need places to jot down the things that come to our minds.  Maybe they wouldn't make sense to anyone else, maybe they would.  Who knows.  I'm not writing for anyone to understand but me.  Sometimes we just need to speak.