A Sense of Reality or Not
It's funny how ringing in the new year always makes us look at ourselves and the world around us a little differently. Okay, only for a few minutes and then we go back to our usual stuff.
However, it is worth taking a few minutes to think about what we as the general public consider important in our lives. Newspaper tabloids are filled with such nonsense news as Angelina Jolie's possible baby bump, Jennifer Aniston announcing she is ready to see Brad's baby, the list just goes on. Do I really care if Angelina is pregnant again? Not really, although it would be nice if she and Brad would quit making babies and make their relationship legal and permanent. (Hollywood's definition of permanent varies depending upon the career mobility of the persons involved.) Why does Jennifer have to announce she is ready to see Brad's baby? That seems pretty personal to me, don't you think?
While we are given moment by moment updates on Hollywood's sleeping arrangements, the general public is still in the dark about the harsh realities that are happening around us: the heinous conflicts in places like Darfur and Somalia, polar bears drowning in the North Pole, and people begging in the streets here in the United States (the richest country in the world, right?).
This is all pretty heavy duty stuff and hard to take in huge doses. I believe that because the mindless slaughter in far away countries doesn't get as much attention as Owen and Kate's break up is because we feel overwhelmed by the violence and helpless to do anything about it. I have asked myself what could I do to help? Unfortunately, nothing other than prayer comes to mind. I'm not putting down the power of prayer - Jesus said to the apostles that if you have faith even like a mustard seed, you will say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
When mega-stars break up, you know they will each pick up the pieces and get on with their lives. When defenseless women are raped and murdered just because they belong to a particular ethnic group, we know that the survivors won't "get over it." Those people are scarred forever and there's nothing we can do about it but pray.
Maybe we should enter 2007 with less interest in movie stars' relationships and more interest in each other as fellow human beings.
