Tears

I've just finished my preliminary examination of the election ballot for the state of Arizona. I am very depressed. As I've looked over and studied the people who are running, there are not good choices in either party all the way down the ticket. The presidential race aside (I'm voting for Hillary Clinton because the other alternative is unthinkable unless we have a sudden wish for Armageddon.), the choices are not good. 

I feel like crying for our state and country. In fact, I think I will. Goodbye...sniff, sniff.

Listen

We've protested enough. We've shot at each other enough. It is time for us to sit down and listen to each other. It is natural for people to notices differences. Skin color, ethnicity, politics, religion, socio-economics and a host of other things divide us. We all have a tendency to want to associate with those who are like us. It's is the easy thing to do. But is it the right thing to do? I believe the time has come for each of us to step our of our comfortable cliques and engage with others who are not like us.

When we engage someone who disagrees with us, there is a natural tendency to become defensive. As a wise person said, "We don't listen, we reload." It is time for us to listen. It would be interesting to just listen to another's point of view without feeling we had to defend our own. We would learn. We would gain understanding. It would be a breath of fresh air. It would reliever us of the tendency to always have to be right. 

We could change the world... by listening.

One the Beach

When I was a freshman in high school, I saw the movie, "On the Beach." It was 1958 version of nuclear holocaust, but without the explosions. The movie scared me to death as we were, at the time, convinced the Russians could blow us us up at any time and the world would be destroyed. Years later, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, what had been portrayed on the screen came dangerously close to being reality.

As an impressionable young man, I left the theater after watching "On the Beach" very surprised to see life going on as normal, not able to shake off what I had just seen. Many years later, I sat in a park at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, seeing normal people doing normal things. I thought what a tragedy it would have been if we had destroyed this beautiful place and if they had destroyed our beautiful places.

Recently, I had the chance to watch "On the Beach" again. When the powerful movie finished, I had the same gut reaction, but intellectually knowing what I had watched was the product of someone's imagination. "On the Beach" held up reasonably well with parts, of course, being laughable. But the message is not laughable. Through environmental consequences, war or some other way, we still have the possibility of all but destroying ourselves. If we do, it will likely be the result of some a misplace ego or just plain ignorance. I like my life. I like my family. I like my neighborhood and friends. I hope it stays that way. Watching "On the Beach" again, I was reminded how fragile life can be. On that cheerful note, have a great day!