On Existing

We can say with some confidence that each of us on earth this day won’t be here in the year 2174.

If our planet remains, have you considered who will be here? What will remain of us? What will be shared of who we were and who we became?

If our story remains 150 years from now, what will be read and spoken? My father served in the military. I served in the military. Though war is always present on our planet I am currently untouched by any real war. I am not hungry. I am not unsheltered. I am not without access to : transportation, fuel, clean water, control of my interior climate, medical care, family, friends, religion, books, education, ammunition or any other resource I can afford. So why am I troubled?

Why do I care if we seek our own destruction? The wars within our borders are typically inner wars we invite. We have a level of freedom and permission to disregard what we choose: law and order, civility, reverence for life, empathy. Many of us have stated emphatically that we hate people who don’t agree with our views. Our speech is often venom. It’s almost like nearly everyone born on American soil was raised a spoiled, willful only child. What would it take to make us a United System of Accepting citizens? An interstellar invasion? A catastrophic act of war on our own shores from one of our many earthly enemies?

Each second, minute, hour, day moves us closer to that unavoidable goodbye. If we exist at all after death such an existence would certainly be our longest journey. If we have thought on that journey what will we think or say to ourselves? What did I contribute to that large and powerful house? Why did it come apart at the seams? Was America that great kingdom divided? Oh damn! I see. Under the pressure we did not stand. Was that what we were meant to be?