". . . Everything that stops us being animals is eroding, washing away like sand, going and gone." stated by Mike "Scorcher" Kennedy, a character in Broken Harbor, a novel by Tana French, 2012.
One of my brothers thanked me this week for forwarding a scrap of nostalgia to him. That's one of the more endearing characteristics of social media. It can take us back to a less complex, more enjoyable time. We can be kids again for a couple of seconds. We can remember walking to church and school without seeing the bogeyman coming around every corner. And, as in the memory of Scorcher Kennedy, murder rarely happened in his environs. Much less did we have to fear terrorism on American soil.
I was having a chat with both my God, Jehovah, and Allah the other night, asking them if our religions couldn't peacefully coexist -- as well as have peace between all the great religions of the world. Why can't we just offer each other respect? Why must we always be at odds over the very part of our lives that should bring hope and tranquility?
Scorcher Kennedy said the first thing man did when he became human was to draw a line in front of the cave that said wild stays out. True. And the point Tana French seems to be making is we are going wild again.
Sure seems that way Ms. French. Sure seems that way! With all our social media, television and other means of learning how we live in different parts of earth, it would seem we should be aspiring to an improved world. Why don't we? Instead, people are using it as a way to attack and organize catastrophic events. We now have murder going viral; people going wild again.
As with all major tools of our lives, they can be used for good or bad -- nuclear energy, bombs or home heat. A shovel, tool or weapon. Social media, a way to stay in touch with friends, or a way to organize crime.
May the people of earth get back to the place where they choose good over bad and civilized over wild. I really miss the peace and simplicity of the fifties. (I also miss the music).
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