May 30, 1997

The following composition is an article for a school magazine. I've adapted it, directing it to a less student-directed audience. I was in one of my "down" moods, I think, when I set out to write this. This is sort of a response to an email correspondence. Keep the hope.

Technology. Progress. Enlightenment...

Our world has grown more realistic about life. You won't find too many fairy tales around; neither do many books and movies have happy endings. Many songs are now about pain and depression. Our generation has come to realize that bad things can happen to good people. A bright young girl may be found a drug addict and a victim of rape five years later. A healthy family can be destroyed with one car crash, leaving a husband without his wife or his son. We no longer deny that these things can happen; the media --whether in forms of the television, music, magazine--proves this. We have grown more realistic about the way life is; or have we just grown a lot more cynical?

It is not often good to live in denial, so I don't think it's a good idea to remain ignorant about our current state. We are troubled with problems ranging from war and poverty to neglected children and abused spouses. These things do happen and are happening. Don't fool yourself into thinking that it's only in the city or on the other side of the world. Open your eyes; you may surprise yourself. And it's sadder still to acknowledge that these things happen to relatively good people.

I, personally, know of a car crash who took away from a wonderful woman her husband of one week and her best friend's family. I also knew of a young boy who had big dreams and a wonderful spirit, but his life was cut short at the age of fifteen. Why do these things happen? We can't really know, and saying "life is not fair" offers no consolation.

But my message here is not to depress you.

Though I believe we should acknowledge our world's problems, I don't believe we should just give up. Bad things happen, but so do good things. We must believe that. We can't afford not to, or we will lose ourselves and our future. Without hope or faith, we will lose any purpose of living, because what's the point, if it's only 80 years of constant pain? I know some people who agree, and have taken their lives. Yet some of us continue to keep trying...but I don't mean to encourage a hopeless hope.

That woman who lost her husband and her best friend found out later at the hospital she was pregnant. Today, she is the happy mother of a little boy. We may pity the boy who has to live without a father, but I don't think he or his mother sees it that way. To live is a precious gift; I think his mother believes that everytime she sees him smile.

My friend, who died at the age of 15, knew he was going to die. He had a weak heart that was failing him, but despite the knowledge that he was going to die, he always had a smile and kind a word. I never got to asked him how he could be so happy, but a year later I heard a story that helped me understand. It was a story about a girl who was born with no legs and no arms. When she was 19, her brother brought home a roommate from college for the holidays. Near the end of the holidays, the roommate asked her, "Before I leave, I simply must ask you something. What keeps you from crying out in rage against the kind of God who would let you be born this way? How do you keep from blowing up in anger at the injustice of God?"

The girl looked him straight in the eye and said, "I realize that when compared to what other people have, what I have may not seem like much. But listen--I wouldn't have missed the chance to have been born for anything! I have been able to taste. I have learned to read. I have been exposed to some of the world's greatest literature. I have heard incredible, wonderful music. I have had the love and relationship of a wonderful family and friends. I have the faith in God's goodness and unfailing help. Yes, I know when compared to others it may not seem I have very much, but compared to not being able to live at all--I wouldn't have missed being born for anything!"

I think my friend lived this way. I think we should all live this way. Keep fighting for life; treasure it and live it the best you can. Make it so that you wouldn't have missed being born for anything.

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