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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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HOPE FOR THE WORLD
Throughout the millennia of its existence, the human race seems to have learned very little. For all the advances we've made in science, technology, and medicine, we still struggle with moral and ethical issues that have been with us since the beginning of time. Wars continue. Poverty still exists. Our prisons are overcrowded. Just listening to or reading the daily news is enough to depress the average person. Still, I observed something recently that renewed my hope for the world. Sitting on my favorite downtown bench, I watched a young boy walking down the sidewalk with his mother. He was brimming over with enthusiasm for something in his hands, and was chattering away to his mother about it, occasionally holding his hands up for her to see. His exuberance stood out from the rest of the pedestrians around, and I was curious about what he had in his hands. At last, the mother and child passed by my bench, and I saw the source of his joy. It was a purple and tan finger trap -- the woven, straw trap that we all played with at some point in our childhood. It had no batteries. It provided no digital or audio feedback. His mother spent less than one dollar purchasing it. Yet this little boy was enthralled by it. In fact, my guess is that the overstimulated world in which we live only makes such a simple toy all the more fascinating. And that is what gives me hope for the world. It is the simplicity of paper clips, safety pins, hammers, pocket knives, and ballpoint pens that have made them so useful for so many generations. Our complicated lives can cause us to ignore simple solutions to life's persistent problems. Thank goodness little children can still be excited by something as simple as a straw finger trap.
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SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008 |
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