The Way We Think, The Way We Are In The World

I had a cool thing happen to me the other day.

I was at Starbucks (or as my friend calls it, "Fourbucks"). It's my little weekly treat. I get a grande soy mocha latte, and read the New York Times from first page to the last page. All of it. Okay, I skip the Bill Kristol crap, but that only because I don't consider that sort of cliche whoring to be writing. But I digress.

I got in line, and in front of me, there were two EMTs. I have a rule. When I'm in the house, no EMT's or firefighters pay. Ever. This is for personal reasons, which aren't important, but it's been my rule for a while. So I signaled to John, the manager barista, that they were on my tab. The EMT's were gracious and thanked me kindly. I'm always embarassed, because it seems such a small thing to do for them. Next it was my turn in line. I ordered, and when I went to pay, John wouldn't let me. He said, "Hey, you buy for those guys, I buy for you."

I have to say, I was blown away. Not because of the monetary aspect, but because of the human aspect of it. I thought to myself, "Wow, how cool would the world be if everyone worked this way." Now, I know it doesn't. But that day, it did, and I embraced that experienced, and I shared it with everyone I talked to that day. I was thinking that the more people that know that we can have this kind of existence and treatment of one another, the more people that will think of doing it sometime on their own.

It also reminded me of this story:

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the
holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In
the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and
made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to
be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were
strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of
stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms,
they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man
shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as
the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew
which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the
same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump,
laughing and talking.

The holy man said, "I don't understand."

"It is simple," said the Lord, "It requires but one skill. You see, they
have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves."

You know, there's alot of humanity out there. More than some days it feels like. But it is there.

Today, in me, hope is alive. i hope that through my experience, I can awaken some more hope in all of you.

-Casey