Silver linings

originally written Friday, September 12, 2008

Normally I don't really do this blog stuff, because who am I to think my thoughts or life is so important or profound it needs to annouce itself on you, however I have been thinking on something for the last day that I felt the urge to make public. When one is watching the news or reading the papers, or actually attempting to find a way to objectively learn about (mostly horrible) world events, it quite easy for us (myself included) to adopt the " hell in a hand basket" position but even when the world looks pretty gray and cloudly...there is always a silver lining to be found

Of course I make no big secret of the fact that my father was a firefighter murdered at the World Trade Center. Naturally the last few days have been very difficult for myself and the rest or my family. One irony of course is that this is also a period throughout which I feel very loved. Among the dozens of calls, messages and visits I've received over the past few days, there are two in particular that I feel compelled to share because of what I feel they remind us about the general goodness of humanity. These two dear friends will remain nameless here (even thought they may be identifible through some of the details) one because I am not able to directly ask their permission and secondly because it is not who they are but they do that is the point of this letter.

The first came from a friend who a month ago left the United States to travel to Uganda to do nursing work in orphanages and hospitals (in conjuction with missionary work). Naturally in such a country (particularly where this person is located) access to cell phone or internet is spotty at best, yet like clockwork yesterday in the afternoon I received a text message from a strange number that was this person reminding me that I was in their thoughts and offered their signature admonishment to "keep my head up"

The Second came in the form of a Myspace message (can I get sued for writing that here?) from another friend who is a Marine currently serving in Iraq, telling me I was in their thoughts and hoped my family were doing ok.The point and thought provoking thing for me in all of this is not neccessarily that these to people are important to me because clearly they are but that for one they both chose admirable and selfless ways to serve the world the world at large and secondly given the difficulty of communication and lack of "free time" in both of these situations , they still both were motivated and moved to check in on someone they loved that that they knew my be hurting in their own way back home.

Both of these people literally have chosen God and country to express a love they have not just for friends and family but every human on this earth. This country and much of the world are gripped in political squabbling and general cynicism, and these two examples remind me and should remind all of us that because there is no place or more importantly no time for for politics or cynicism on the battlefields of war or hunger and disease, it's the simple humanity and oneness among us and a general attitude to "do unto others" that proves that this world and it's people are not quite ready to book that hand-basket ride to hell just yet.

Lastly, rather than put ourselves down if we are unable to serve the far reaches of the world in one way or another, we should instead assert with pride and conviction the things that we say or believe, and perform the jobs and work we do with true purpose because no matter how big or small or how close or far they may be, all clouds need silver linings....

In love and reflection,