thinking . . .

Sometimes I think about this tiny slice of human civilization that I live in and how crazy it all seems. For one thing, there are so many of us now. Even since I was born in 1944, the world population has (approximately) tripled. And we American adults are so busy, filled with self importance as we rush from place to place in our vehicles, earning money doing the work of this era, spending money, fitting into the culture, meeting expectations, being manipulated, living by clocks and deadlines. This is a time of too much stimulation from intrusive noises, enticing chatter, bright lights and entertainment. I sometimes wonder what it was like in past cultures, where a time such as today could not be imagined, when values, clothing, food, family life were different, where people made decisions based on what they knew about nature and the sky. Though human nature does not change, the way we live out our lives certainly has, and I am not convinced of the superiority of the twenty-first century.