Not An Option
The end of the year lends itself into taking stock of all that has happened, and by all accounts, 2008 has been one hell of a confusing ride. From the election on through Sarah Palin (she's a grandma now - congrats) to Obama bowling a 37 (I can beat that by thirty), through the economic mess, and my new-found fascination with 48 Hours Mystery - I'm left wondering where everything has gone wrong.
The first story I read today was about the Santa Claus killer who incinerated 9 of his relatives. My second story was about the Florida woman who went overboard on a cruise as her husband waited 8 hours to report it and supposedly went gambling to expunge his grief. Nancy Grace will have a field day with that one.
And it occurred to me that it appears that the way out of a crap situation is to kill your way out. The crime stats say that violent crimes are down, but man, there seems to be a ton of sensationalistic murders. There are wars raging all the world over, and there's a sense of holding our collective breath as we wait for the next terrorist attack to hit - whether here or in India, or London.
There's so much to get us confused, and if 2008 tells us anything it might be that there's another catastrophe waiting just around the corner from the last one.
Yet I always wondered what it might be like if every person in the world got out of bed and made a promise not to kill anyone today. Has there ever been a day when all of humanity made such a pledge? Is that such a huge promise to keep?
I'm not cynical when I suggest that there will never be such a day, yet when we pray for peace on earth, isn't it really just that simple?
Usually the 48 Hours Mystery begins with a married couple in wedded bliss. The remaining spouse (usually the husband) tells of the love in the marriage and how wonderful life appeared to be. Somewhere along the line the music changes, and we hear about the disconnect. Then we are introduced to the murder and the clues left sloppily at the scene.
"You think he did it?" my wife asks.
"Uh, huh," I answer cynically and all the while I wonder why killing is an option.
The one gift we are granted is life. It's a gift granted to each of us, regardless of who we meet and what we choose to do with our lives. To have it snuffed out at the discretion of another is mind-blowing to me. Yet it's there in the news every day and we are fascinated by the spectacle.
I'm just not sure what to make of any of it. A mother killing her daughter and discarding her by the side of the road? Santa shooting an 8-year-old in the face? Mindless bombings of innocent people? A wife "thrown" overboard?
Long ago I read something that someone once said about murder. "If we want to expunge murder, we first need to rid of ourselves of the fascination of it."
Perhaps one of my goals of '09 is to stop reading about murder and to stop watching it brought to me with commercial interruptions.
I just don't know much about anything - 2008 has taught me that - but I do know that killing another person is simply not an option - I just wish every other man or woman shared my desire for peace.
The first story I read today was about the Santa Claus killer who incinerated 9 of his relatives. My second story was about the Florida woman who went overboard on a cruise as her husband waited 8 hours to report it and supposedly went gambling to expunge his grief. Nancy Grace will have a field day with that one.
And it occurred to me that it appears that the way out of a crap situation is to kill your way out. The crime stats say that violent crimes are down, but man, there seems to be a ton of sensationalistic murders. There are wars raging all the world over, and there's a sense of holding our collective breath as we wait for the next terrorist attack to hit - whether here or in India, or London.
There's so much to get us confused, and if 2008 tells us anything it might be that there's another catastrophe waiting just around the corner from the last one.
Yet I always wondered what it might be like if every person in the world got out of bed and made a promise not to kill anyone today. Has there ever been a day when all of humanity made such a pledge? Is that such a huge promise to keep?
I'm not cynical when I suggest that there will never be such a day, yet when we pray for peace on earth, isn't it really just that simple?
Usually the 48 Hours Mystery begins with a married couple in wedded bliss. The remaining spouse (usually the husband) tells of the love in the marriage and how wonderful life appeared to be. Somewhere along the line the music changes, and we hear about the disconnect. Then we are introduced to the murder and the clues left sloppily at the scene.
"You think he did it?" my wife asks.
"Uh, huh," I answer cynically and all the while I wonder why killing is an option.
The one gift we are granted is life. It's a gift granted to each of us, regardless of who we meet and what we choose to do with our lives. To have it snuffed out at the discretion of another is mind-blowing to me. Yet it's there in the news every day and we are fascinated by the spectacle.
I'm just not sure what to make of any of it. A mother killing her daughter and discarding her by the side of the road? Santa shooting an 8-year-old in the face? Mindless bombings of innocent people? A wife "thrown" overboard?
Long ago I read something that someone once said about murder. "If we want to expunge murder, we first need to rid of ourselves of the fascination of it."
Perhaps one of my goals of '09 is to stop reading about murder and to stop watching it brought to me with commercial interruptions.
I just don't know much about anything - 2008 has taught me that - but I do know that killing another person is simply not an option - I just wish every other man or woman shared my desire for peace.
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