Love, Sweet Love

Back in the late 60's or early 70's there was a song with lyrics that said, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  It's the only thing that there's just too little of..................."  Yesterday I was speaking with my daughter who lives in Manhattan.  Because of the recent tragedy at the Empire State Building we talked of  many things:

• the insanity in today's world, 
• the senseless crimes, 
• the red flags that are ignored which could prevent tragedies,
• the rage and anger exhibited by many people, 
• the killing and wounding of innocent people, 
• the bickering, dishonesty, and lack of action of our elected representatives, 
• the insane greed and lust for power, money, and 15 minutes of fame,
• the overwhelming national debt,
• the millions of people looking for jobs,
• the loss of moral compasses by many people,
• the ever-increasing numbers of homeless people and addicts of every kind,
• the looting and stealing of other people's property by thugs,
• the destruction of property over stupid things like a sporting event won or lost,
• the great lack of respect for authority, anything or anyone, 
• the huge number of single mothers and abdication of responsibility by fathers,
• the boys who think that they are tough because they belong to gangs and are no strangers to drive-by shootings and other criminal acts,
• the ridiculous mismanagement of funds in cities, towns, and states causing the loss of needed protection provided by police, fire fighters, and our military.  
• and so many, many more issues that taint life in the world today.

You will notice we did not mention natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires,  hurricanes or tornadoes as they are things over which humans have no control. The problems we discussed are all man made and, therefore, in truth can be resolved by mankind if we are inclined to fix them.  We talked about things that could, should, or might be done to resolve the problems and make the world a better, safer place.

We believe the thing that could start to make things better is LOVE.  All children and adults need love, compassion and kindness, and when they don't get it anger, rage, and bad behavior are the results.  There have always been evil people and evil acts, and there are people who have been loved but still choose to go down a wrong path in life. Many people want to fight, quarrel, kill, threaten, attack, and generally behave like jerks.  Love, kindness and compassion can help many of them and, over time, prevent the numbers from increasing.

Such a simple answer but a true answer.  Will we all ask ourselves what do we do that we need to stop doing, and what do we not do that we need to start doing?  Will we begin in our own homes, on our own streets, in our own cities and towns?  Bad people and bad deeds make the daily news, but there are still millions of good people in this world who are never mentioned................there are enough good people so that we could turn the world around if we join forces and decide to do it.

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love......................"  How about it?  Are you in?

My Heartfelt Sympathy And My Growing Hatred

The niece of a dear friend of mine is expecting her first baby in about a week. Her young husband was murdered last week after being robbed in their driveway as he arrived home from work. There are no words to adequately express my sorrow for his young wife, their unborn child, their parents and siblings, and their friends. I find more and more that my feelings of disgust and disdain for the wicked, evil people of the world are evolving into feelings of actual hatred for their actions and attitudes. I hate their crimes, their lack of respect for anything or anyone, their failure to value any life, their cowardly inability to face life and accept responsibility as decent human beings, their stupidity, their arrogance, and the burden they become on society when they are finally apprehended, found guilty and punished. I hate that they live on while their innocent victims do not. I hate that our judicial system is not always just, and I hate that our prisons are overflowing. I hate that we coddle criminals and provide them with better living conditions than homeless families with children whose only crime is poverty. I hate whatever happened or didn't happen in the lives of the wicked people that caused them to make such wrong choices. I hate that some parents abuse and/or neglect their children. I hate that some parents fail to teach their children right from wrong, that they tolerate and encourage disrespectful behavior, that they do not set good examples for their offspring to emulate. I hate that we have a society where deceit, duplicity, greed, avarice, and corruption flourish among those people we elect to represent us and govern our cities, counties, states and country. If good people still outnumber bad people (and I believe they do) then we must do whatever it takes to ensure this new baby and all children can grow up in a better world. We cannot do everything, but each of us can do something and all of our somethings can add up to everything.

Losing Things - Like Moral Compasses

The Penn State scandal has just made me ill. Our justice system says that we are innocent until proven guilty, but from the media coverage it would seem the only true innocence was that of the alleged victims. Even though I am not a sports fan (in the true sense of the word), I have always known who Coach Paterno is and his stellar reputation. To see his career end in such a tawdry, ignoble way is a disappointment to so many. I don't know what to think about the grad student who witnessed one of the alleged episodes of molestation. I keep asking myself WHY did he not intervene to rescue the child who was being molested? Why, indeed! While I can accept that witnessing something like that would be completely shocking and unsettling, I cannot imagine that any decent person would not try to intervene immediately to rescue a child. And then I feel certain a decent person would contact the local police at once to be sure that no other child would fall prey to such abuse. When all is said and done, this news is one more indication that the moral compass of our society has been lost.