Keep a Fire For the Human Race

My thanks to Jackson Browne for being around when I grew up and for the great songs he wrote.

"Keep a fire for the human race. Let your prayers go drifting into space. You never know what will be coming down."

For A Dancer. Jackson Browne.

Being a blogger is exhausting and depressing. As hard as I search for good news, the overall picture is often bleak and I often wonder how the Earth still manages to turn, but it does, and life goes on in spite of the harm that human beings inflict on each other. I was especially grateful this morning that the British had saved us from a terrible tragedy. Just a year ago, the Brits were not so fortunate, and lost 52 of their fellow citizens. The British are very skilled at counter-terrorism, when they were attacked, they knuckled down and did the difficult police work that is so effective in countering these sorts of threats. When we were attacked, we invaded Iraq, and I'm not so sure how that has made us safer. Today, we dodged a bullet thanks to the hardworking men and women of Scotland Yard.

It would seem with the world burning as it is in so many places around the globe, that life should stop, a day of mourning and silence should be observed, we should go to church or hold a candle light vigil, a day should be dedicated to those who suffer in Africa and Lebanon and Israel. But we all have things that we need to do, and in my case this morning, I had to figure out how to finish the job that my contractor left me with after I paid him nearly all of the money for the job. I'm getting good at tile work, and today after several unsuccessful attempts at cutting tile with my hammer, I actually figured out to use the tile cutter. After the grout and the mortar, which is not as difficult as cutting tile, but infinitely more messy, I had to finish the cedar shingles on the outside porch. That was actually a lot more fun, since I got to use a power saw and a nail gun. After the construction work was done, I had to clean the kitchen and do my laundry.

Tomorrow, I have to go to my real job, the one that pays the mortgage.

Maybe the couple of hours a night that I put into blogging is my way of holding a vigil for those who suffer in the world. Maybe those of us who are fortunate enough to live in a country that is not being bombarded on a daily basis should take a moment to reflect on those less fortunate who not only have to rebuild a bathroom, but an entire neighborhood. Maybe those of us who cry for war should think for a moment about the horror we were spared today, and maybe we should think about working to spare others from the fire that our citizens avoided today.

Maybe blogging does nothing to prevent the acts of horror that humans inflict upon each other. Maybe prayer does nothing to stop humans from killing each other. Maybe Jesus intended to come back, but he changed his mind when he saw what we had become. I don't know jack about Jesus, and I know less about what it will take for the nations of this planet to stop killing each other.

But I know this.

We can't do nothing.

Light a candle with me tonight, and dream or pray for a world where we don't drop bombs on other humans. Lighting a candle may do nothing, blogging may change nothing, but if every person in this country stops for a moment in gratitude that our homes and our children are still standing, and we are grateful that the danger has passed us by today, maybe in our gratitude for the safety of our homes and our families, we might feel a little compassion for those people who have not been so lucky. We might feel that diplomacy is not so far away, and a solution is right there in front of us just waiting for us to embrace it.

Light a candle for the human race and pray that we survive these times.

Work for peace.

| +Save/Share | |