Every day matters.
Which way does the scale tip in my actions this day? Will I be consequential? Will you?
Make today count!
ARTICLE CATEGORY: The View From Here
Another Six Billion Day
Date: May 11, 2002
Time: 22:56:58 GMT, or about 7:00 PM, New York time
The up-to-the-second world population is estimated to be 6,223,713,797; that’s six billion plus.
You can look it up at http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/popclockw.
But hurry, it’s growing by leaps and bounds. It grew by almost 1,000 when I checked again 5 minutes later.
None of it matters of course. For today is a beginning. The rest of my life and your life starts now. I can. I do. I am. And you can too.
The quiet of a Saturday night. Everyone else in the house is somewhere else. The clock tocks, not ticks -- its battery running low. The time lagging late. It's a clock never watched, therefore it's free to be late.
Will I ever get ideas to write properly what needs to be written to get this world straightened out? Is that my goal? To straighten out the world? I would hope to make the world a bit better for having written here.
Is it an ego thing? No, I think not. I am fairly ego-less, by today's standards. I am actually too passive and uninvolved. What should I do? What should I write about?
I am writing -- is it any good? -- what is it that I am writing if not trash to be... to be what? re-cycled? Recycle my writing. All I need to do is rearrange the words and there may be something worthwhile.
What if I really wrote? What if I really cared? What if I cared for the world in the way others cared in history?
I am I write I think I do I am. I believe I am. What is the meaning of the day when one is not a part of it?
The siren wails. Nearby is a hospital. Is it a death? a birth? a false alarm? Someone to see his maker soon? Someone coming from his maker into this earthly maelstrom where we each make our luck yet at the same time are prone to random events which dislocate or sometimes even improve our lives?
Has anything been done if it wasn't useful? Today my life begins anew. Lord you guide my thought. You direct my actions. I am.
Today is like any other day. Yet it is a significant day. Six billion people have lived through this day. How many thought of God? How many prayed to the devil? How many did a kind deed? How many stole? How many killed someone? Six billion souls in God's presence -- all living, some dying, some beginning their lives today. It is indeed a significant day. How many of us thought of doing something constructive? How many actually accomplished something constructive?
How many dogs were kicked? How many elephants killed? How many innocents shot? How many children beaten? How many...?
In God's presence the day passes. Six billion will sleep tonight -- some fitfully, some restfully. Some crying themselves to sleep. Some worrying the night through. Yet such is life. Such has life been for the past few thousand years -- since man and woman have existed on this earth.
Tomorrow is already here somewhere and today is the final day for others. Is there any distinguishing characteristic from day to day? Is there a meaningful net improvement from one day to the next? As one of the six billion have I contributed something to the plus side of humanity's ledger? Should this be a universal goal? For everyone to contribute something to the plus side, every day?
What is my net balance this day? Was I kind enough, supportive, loving, friendly? Did I feel for another? Which way does the scale tip in my actions this day? Will I be consequential? Will you?
The answer is yet to come… as I write…
~ Andrew Rafalski ~
Copyright 2002
Time: 22:56:58 GMT, or about 7:00 PM, New York time
The up-to-the-second world population is estimated to be 6,223,713,797; that’s six billion plus.
You can look it up at http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/popclockw.
But hurry, it’s growing by leaps and bounds. It grew by almost 1,000 when I checked again 5 minutes later.
None of it matters of course. For today is a beginning. The rest of my life and your life starts now. I can. I do. I am. And you can too.
The quiet of a Saturday night. Everyone else in the house is somewhere else. The clock tocks, not ticks -- its battery running low. The time lagging late. It's a clock never watched, therefore it's free to be late.
Will I ever get ideas to write properly what needs to be written to get this world straightened out? Is that my goal? To straighten out the world? I would hope to make the world a bit better for having written here.
Is it an ego thing? No, I think not. I am fairly ego-less, by today's standards. I am actually too passive and uninvolved. What should I do? What should I write about?
I am writing -- is it any good? -- what is it that I am writing if not trash to be... to be what? re-cycled? Recycle my writing. All I need to do is rearrange the words and there may be something worthwhile.
What if I really wrote? What if I really cared? What if I cared for the world in the way others cared in history?
I am I write I think I do I am. I believe I am. What is the meaning of the day when one is not a part of it?
The siren wails. Nearby is a hospital. Is it a death? a birth? a false alarm? Someone to see his maker soon? Someone coming from his maker into this earthly maelstrom where we each make our luck yet at the same time are prone to random events which dislocate or sometimes even improve our lives?
Has anything been done if it wasn't useful? Today my life begins anew. Lord you guide my thought. You direct my actions. I am.
Today is like any other day. Yet it is a significant day. Six billion people have lived through this day. How many thought of God? How many prayed to the devil? How many did a kind deed? How many stole? How many killed someone? Six billion souls in God's presence -- all living, some dying, some beginning their lives today. It is indeed a significant day. How many of us thought of doing something constructive? How many actually accomplished something constructive?
How many dogs were kicked? How many elephants killed? How many innocents shot? How many children beaten? How many...?
In God's presence the day passes. Six billion will sleep tonight -- some fitfully, some restfully. Some crying themselves to sleep. Some worrying the night through. Yet such is life. Such has life been for the past few thousand years -- since man and woman have existed on this earth.
Tomorrow is already here somewhere and today is the final day for others. Is there any distinguishing characteristic from day to day? Is there a meaningful net improvement from one day to the next? As one of the six billion have I contributed something to the plus side of humanity's ledger? Should this be a universal goal? For everyone to contribute something to the plus side, every day?
What is my net balance this day? Was I kind enough, supportive, loving, friendly? Did I feel for another? Which way does the scale tip in my actions this day? Will I be consequential? Will you?
The answer is yet to come… as I write…
~ Andrew Rafalski ~
Copyright 2002
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