We are important people. What we do matters. Who we are matters.
Sitting in my truck today I noticed a double decker bus next to me. Because of the tint on the windows, my mind was left to imagine the child on the other side of the window making faces at me. It is nearly certain that is what was happening, because that is ALWAYS what happens when you are sitting next to a bus.
My mind began to wonder why this fictional child might be on a Las Vegas tour bus. Is he the child of troubled parents trying to rekindle their romance in sin city? Is he the child of a single father who has no idea how to relate to his son? Is the seat really empty waiting for the next story to sit down?
The light turned green and the bus pulled away, but these odd thoughts remained. With a gentle honk from the car behind me as a nudge I started off down the street. As I passed cars along my trek home, I noticed people from all walks of life. Some were happy. why? Some were sad. why? As I passed an elderly couple I wondered if that sat in silence because they have been together so long, interesting topics of conversation ceased to exist years ago. The teenagers with a child in the back of the car. Is that their child? Are they babysitting a sibling? The woman putting on makeup. Did she wake up late for the swing shift or does she simply care not about others?
Do people look at me in the same fashion? Why does he look happy? Why does he look sad? Why does he drive an expedition when he has no passengers? Why is the top down on his convertible when the temperature is 106? My guess is the answers are often less interesting than the questions. As those 50 people prepared to board that fateful plane days ago, did others watch and wonder where and why they were going? Was it to visit loved ones? Was it in search of love? In search of adventure? To run away from problems? To go on a vacation that was planned years in advance? Was it to just go? Unfortunately the answer to all the stories is the same save one. My prayers are with you... the sole survivor. I hope your story doesn't end for some time.
To answer my own question, I prefer the questions about those people to the answers they have. May your family members put the end of your story to the side and remember with smiles all the chapters before.
--C
Sitting in my truck today I noticed a double decker bus next to me. Because of the tint on the windows, my mind was left to imagine the child on the other side of the window making faces at me. It is nearly certain that is what was happening, because that is ALWAYS what happens when you are sitting next to a bus.
My mind began to wonder why this fictional child might be on a Las Vegas tour bus. Is he the child of troubled parents trying to rekindle their romance in sin city? Is he the child of a single father who has no idea how to relate to his son? Is the seat really empty waiting for the next story to sit down?
The light turned green and the bus pulled away, but these odd thoughts remained. With a gentle honk from the car behind me as a nudge I started off down the street. As I passed cars along my trek home, I noticed people from all walks of life. Some were happy. why? Some were sad. why? As I passed an elderly couple I wondered if that sat in silence because they have been together so long, interesting topics of conversation ceased to exist years ago. The teenagers with a child in the back of the car. Is that their child? Are they babysitting a sibling? The woman putting on makeup. Did she wake up late for the swing shift or does she simply care not about others?
Do people look at me in the same fashion? Why does he look happy? Why does he look sad? Why does he drive an expedition when he has no passengers? Why is the top down on his convertible when the temperature is 106? My guess is the answers are often less interesting than the questions. As those 50 people prepared to board that fateful plane days ago, did others watch and wonder where and why they were going? Was it to visit loved ones? Was it in search of love? In search of adventure? To run away from problems? To go on a vacation that was planned years in advance? Was it to just go? Unfortunately the answer to all the stories is the same save one. My prayers are with you... the sole survivor. I hope your story doesn't end for some time.
To answer my own question, I prefer the questions about those people to the answers they have. May your family members put the end of your story to the side and remember with smiles all the chapters before.
--C
Comments
Socrates asked Athenian youth:
Why should you live?
How should you live"
What difference does it make?