Ramblin' Jan

Have you ever thought about how little importance we put on lives other than our own or those close to us? Have you ever wondered at the fragility of life?

Last night I watched a PBS special on Yellow Fever (Yellow Jack as it was commonly called). In one city alone, Memphis, over 20,000 people died from the disease. Think about those numbers. That was just one city. The disease had been around for as long as people lived in mosquito-lovin' territory. How many lives were snuffed out from this one disease?

War. How many millions have been killed through the ages as a result of war? I know there are some who feel we can be better, that we can become a peace loving world, but I'm not in that camp. There are too many people with too many different beliefs they are willing to die and kill for. Take a small group of children, give them a few toys, stick them in a room and it won't be long before they're fighting. Take a small group of children and give them everything they could want, teach them to hug and love each other and sooner or later someone is going to want to be king and divisions will start.

When you travel down the paths of history one thing that stands out is death. Slavery, the Crusades, Black Death, plagues, children forced to work in factories, the list goes on and on. Death.

We all have loved ones orbiting within our own small universe. We care about those on the periphery. Some of us have a large periphery. We get upset when there is a tragedy and will dig into our pockets or even possibly go help. Most of us care to some degree but our natural inclination is to take care of our little universe and move on with our daily lives.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this or that there is anywhere I can go with this. I can't change the nature of the world.