What says privilege like a Lear jet? That's Juliet and Christy adorning those perfectly crafted leather seats. And me, the flash in the mirror capturing the memory.
Drum up $12,000,000.00 and you can have a Lear for yourself. Yes. That's right. Twelve million dollars. An Ivy league education? Pocket change.
It's all relative.
For most in this country, if you're managing to keep your mortgage paid and escape foreclosure during this economic uncertainty, you're doing well. That said, 20% of humanity (that's us) hoards and holds 83% of the world's wealth. On average, even if you're poor in America, you're wealthier than 75% of the world's population.
Gratitude for what we have is a good thing to have. Because we have a lot. Even if it's not a Lear. And you don't know poverty until you've seen real poverty.
We had a wonderful time on this airplane. Don't get me wrong. It was an exceptional experience to draw from in thinking bigger than we have been. But to think bigger for the means to do good. To give. To share. To help others have a better life.
Years ago someone said to me (when I suggested wishing I could do more), "It's not how much you would do with more, it's what you're doing now with what you've got."
What do we do with what we've got? This weekend one of the Beauties in the photo said, "When I pass a homeless person I may feel I don't have the cash to give, but sometimes I have an apple. Or a muffin. And I can give that. I think it's just the giving that counts."
She's right. It is the giving that counts. And that we give in whatever way we can. To all of our brothers and sisters in our human family.
In response to the current political environment, my fellow planning commissioner Mary Woodhead posted this note on her Facebook. It reads:
"As we listen to talk of secession from the Tea Party and the importance of state rights, let's remember the real horror of the Confederacy. From the Texas declaration of secession: "...in this free government *all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights* [emphasis in the original]; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states...."
I am appalled people actually thought and believed this. Then again, the whole idea of slavery is appalling to me. I've never understood racism. Or prejudice. And I do not understand the mudslinging and heated argument that goes on over issues like the ones our country is facing right now.
But I think it's fear related. And people will always find something to fear if that is where their brain is inclined to go. Fear of the loss of freedom, the loss of personal rights, loss of property, fear of change. Fear of failure, fear of the uncertain, fear of rejection, the loss of love. I could go on, but I think that pretty much sums up racism, political divide, and every other social and personal ill.
Maybe if we pushed our fears aside we could find a little hope. Maybe if we thought of new ways to give (like the apple), new ways to share, new ways to love and serve and be open with each other, we would realize that we're all afraid together. Created equal. And in our mortal condition, equally afraid is my guess.
We can help each other. And with a little honesty we could actually talk. Communicate. Say something that would be meaningful and helpful to another human soul.
As I said in an earlier post, I'm not trying to solve the world's problems. Nor could I. And as I also said, that's not what this blog is about.
But when it comes to happiness, which comes from love, the pathway includes kindly giving to and lovingly caring for each other.
So give. Share. From what you have and from who you are. Because that's all we've got to give anyway, isn't it?
It's enough.
And it feels good.
Thanks for the cookies Mark. :)
'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Wow, that was a great post. Thanks so much. I'm from Texas, and I've never read that snippet from the secession declaration. That's mind-blowing. I appreciate this, partially because I'm afraid that I contribute to the heat and the ferver. I appreciate you saying what I try to say without becoming overly passionate and, perhaps, irrational. You're great, and this blog (and, of course, you by extension), is a blessing.
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