There’s the old joke.
Why shouldn’t you write with a broken pencil?
Because it is pointless.
Some days I don’t have a point here. I simply meander. I think there is a lot to be said for meandering. It is to wander at random, or to proceed aimlessly. You know. To bump around into things with little purpose.
I find myself at the short end of the writing stick today. It seems like every topic I’ve come across is somehow pointless.
Like, this is Billy the Kid’s birthday. I’m sure his parent’s were proud, and all. But we all know how that one came out in the end. It is kind of like celebrating the day they started building the Titanic. So, though it is pointless, Happy Birthday Bill.
The next thing I tripped across was a little tidbit about the Bird Man of Alcatraz. Most people have seen a movie or two about him. I am not among those people. So I found his story very interesting. He and I had a shared interest — the love of birds and bird watching. However, he was some kind of birding wizard. A real expert on the subject. An entire life caged up, like a canary in someone’s kitchen, over a crime he committed as a very young man, most likely while he was drunk. It seems heartbreaking to me. So I decided not to write about him, and looked what just happened. There he is. But I have no point.
The next story that came into my scope, was about a murder that was solved by Lego’s. Yes. The little toys. I can’t remember the date, but it happened somewhere in Pennsylvania. A 78 year old woman was found murdered violently in her bed. They found a prospect, but didn’t have enough evidence to hold up in court. They also found Lego’s at the crime scene. There was a fingerprint on one of the Lego’s and it matched the suspect’s kid. This guy apparently took along his children to the burglary / murder. Bring your kid to work day? Anyway, the kid’s fingerprint is how they nailed the guy. Again, the point of the story alluded me.
But, after all of this, it seemed that every “topic” rolling in front of me had to do with crime and criminals. I looked at current news. More crime. More criminals, from sea to shining sea. And I thought, “There’s a whole awful lot of bad stuff going on in the world.” Maybe that was the point.
Yet, as soon as I thought it, something reminded me of Newton’s Third Law. His very good third law. And I am applying it here, because I think I can. That third law goes:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I think there are people in this world who are incredibly good. Light sources. The people who wear kindness and caring in their hearts. And it permeates to their actions.
It can be in the littlest ways. A wish, a thought, a prayer. Or small actions, like courtesy, graciousness, and civility. Perhaps it is something larger in scale, like pulling someone from a burning building. Well, not that big. What about buying a sandwich for a hungry person? That’s pretty big.
Our world sometimes seems a little crazy and it feels like the pendulum sometimes sways and gets stuck in the realm of negativity. Those of us, who care about the goodness of this place, need to act as a counter balance. We need to keep focusing in the nourishment of life. On the noble side of things.
When things seem to be going oh-so-very wrong, we need to do what is right.
Yes, the next right thing.
Our opposite reaction. In the positive direction.
Maybe that is the point.
========
“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder
=========
“It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”
― Noël Coward, Blithe Spirit
=========
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
=========
