On Problems, Manners & Fear
Yesterday I heard Genesis' "Land of Confusion" on the radio. I was reminded of these lyrics:
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion.
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in
I started thinking of problems - from Hezbollah to global warming to the people who cut me off in traffic circles (you can't drive straight through them, people! You have to stay in your lane - just like any other road!) - and wondering about ways to make the world "a place worth living". I thought a bit about an acquaintance of mine who talks a lot about 'not owning anyone else's s**t'. I know on one level that you have to mark boundaries for yourself, otherwise you can get caught up in a lot of stress, but I think every time I hear that that it's rather heartless. I think we have to own each other's crap to a certain extent in order to make the world "a place worth living in." "He ain't heavy. He's my brother."
However, I confess when it comes to making the world more worth living it, I was mostly thinking in physical terms -- of green roofs. Not so much about love or probably even close to what the boys had in mind when writing the song, but something of a hidden passion of mine. I got to thinking I wish I could either get a job promoting their use, or not need a job so I could volunteer with some organization promoting their use.
theagentx told me yesterday morning during our walk that Governor Schwarzenegger had announced in an initiative to install more solar panels. I wonder if you could make a roof mostly green and then install the panel on part of it?
Then this morning, I saw an note in the paper about a study of illiteracy in English-speaking countries. It challenged the notion that illiteracy is tied to poverty. Although in the United States, people below the poverty line have lower literacy, people in the Caribbean nations who live in greater poverty, have higher literacy than their US counterparts. It made me wonder if our relative prosperity has seduced us. Even the poor on this continent have TV's - do we take the easy way out in plonking kids in front of it rather than encouraging reading?
On the Today Show, also this morning, I saw a segment on manners. Reader's Digest did a study of the most polite cities based on: 1) people who hold the door for other people, 2) people who will help pick up a document that has been dropped and a third thing that I forget. New York came first, Zurich second and Toronto third. London (England) was 18 down the list. One commentator suggested three factors for New York's rise above it's reputation - 1) that close quarters and a pedestrian society create a need for manners to insure invisibility - you don't want to call attention to yourself by trampling on someone's stuff, 2) political correctness had made everyone much more aware of what they do and say, and 3) a "backlash" against the inhumanity of 9/11. I thought that last one was interesting.
Global Warming, "Dumbing Down"/Illiteracy, Terrorism (in the roundabout way of discussing an unexpected effect) - all problems, part of the "land of confusion", things to cause fear - or at least worry.
Then I was listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio and he said something that surprised me. He said the most frequent command/admonition in the Bible is: Don't Fear (Don't be afraid, Fear not, etc.). Huh. Not any of the "Thou Shall Not's", not anything having to do with the Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Cardinal Virtues. Don't be Afraid. I think it says a lot about the human condition. We *are* prone to paralyzing ourselves with fear and worry. FDR made a lot of sense when during WWII he said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion.
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in
I started thinking of problems - from Hezbollah to global warming to the people who cut me off in traffic circles (you can't drive straight through them, people! You have to stay in your lane - just like any other road!) - and wondering about ways to make the world "a place worth living". I thought a bit about an acquaintance of mine who talks a lot about 'not owning anyone else's s**t'. I know on one level that you have to mark boundaries for yourself, otherwise you can get caught up in a lot of stress, but I think every time I hear that that it's rather heartless. I think we have to own each other's crap to a certain extent in order to make the world "a place worth living in." "He ain't heavy. He's my brother."
However, I confess when it comes to making the world more worth living it, I was mostly thinking in physical terms -- of green roofs. Not so much about love or probably even close to what the boys had in mind when writing the song, but something of a hidden passion of mine. I got to thinking I wish I could either get a job promoting their use, or not need a job so I could volunteer with some organization promoting their use.
theagentx told me yesterday morning during our walk that Governor Schwarzenegger had announced in an initiative to install more solar panels. I wonder if you could make a roof mostly green and then install the panel on part of it?
Then this morning, I saw an note in the paper about a study of illiteracy in English-speaking countries. It challenged the notion that illiteracy is tied to poverty. Although in the United States, people below the poverty line have lower literacy, people in the Caribbean nations who live in greater poverty, have higher literacy than their US counterparts. It made me wonder if our relative prosperity has seduced us. Even the poor on this continent have TV's - do we take the easy way out in plonking kids in front of it rather than encouraging reading?
On the Today Show, also this morning, I saw a segment on manners. Reader's Digest did a study of the most polite cities based on: 1) people who hold the door for other people, 2) people who will help pick up a document that has been dropped and a third thing that I forget. New York came first, Zurich second and Toronto third. London (England) was 18 down the list. One commentator suggested three factors for New York's rise above it's reputation - 1) that close quarters and a pedestrian society create a need for manners to insure invisibility - you don't want to call attention to yourself by trampling on someone's stuff, 2) political correctness had made everyone much more aware of what they do and say, and 3) a "backlash" against the inhumanity of 9/11. I thought that last one was interesting.
Global Warming, "Dumbing Down"/Illiteracy, Terrorism (in the roundabout way of discussing an unexpected effect) - all problems, part of the "land of confusion", things to cause fear - or at least worry.
Then I was listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio and he said something that surprised me. He said the most frequent command/admonition in the Bible is: Don't Fear (Don't be afraid, Fear not, etc.). Huh. Not any of the "Thou Shall Not's", not anything having to do with the Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Cardinal Virtues. Don't be Afraid. I think it says a lot about the human condition. We *are* prone to paralyzing ourselves with fear and worry. FDR made a lot of sense when during WWII he said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."