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Never getting what we want

Everyone in the world contains certain things which make us human. We all breathe oxygen. We all have blood that circulates through our bodies. We need our hearts and and our brains to live. We generally have similar looks with some variations (no I don't mean we all look a like, but rather, I never confuse a human for a koala bear, an elephant, or a kookaburra because even with the many variations in our looks, we look like a human being). In many ways we are the same.

But we also differ. Some are short. Some are tall. Some speak English. Others speak Japanese. Some are rich. Others live in abject poverty. And we differ in our politics.

Some people want nothing to do with politics. They hate the news. They feel that nothing changes anyways so what is the difference. Oh they complain when governments make bad choices but they choose not to get involved. Others are too partisan, voting only for one party and considering those who don't to be ill informed, stupid, or worse. Some people favour big government, feeling that this ensures that everyone gets a fair shake. Others feel big government leads to wastage and mismanagement. Some people want governments not to spend too much in order that their own individual pocketbooks might not be hurt. Others don't mind paying taxes in order that there is money for roads, schools, hospitals, and social services.

I also don't think that any party is totally right. Yes I may vote a certain way, but I know that politics is a human institution and that as such wrong decisions will be made. When I vote, I know that no one party completely shares my views. On the other hand, I have to admit that no one party is completely 100% wrong. Some come close, very close indeed to being totally wrong, but my theology states that I must love my fellow human being, who like me requires some grace, who like me is far from perfect. I may not ever vote for them, but I can never say that they are wrong 100% per cent, 100% of the time.

Does this mean that we give politicians carte blanche to do whatever they want? No, we must continue to speak for good government, to express our satisfaction and dissatisfaction with things we like or dislike. We must continue to make our planet a better place. This means disagreement, debate, compromise will always be part of politics. All politicians, no matter what their stripe, can make decisions which anger us. All politicians no matter what their stripe, can make wrong decisions which might please us or anger us. But we must always strive for the good.  Blessings.

New ways of communicating

This morning I saw a news story that caught my eye. Canada is 150 years old this year and they are issuing stamps to commemorate significant events in the life of our country. One of the stamps, a stamp celebrating that marriage equality was established nationwide in 2005, caught my eye. I decided I wanted such a stamp.  So I asked on Facebook if any of my Canadian friends could send me such a stamps. Within an hour, three friends had responded. I have wonderful friends. I had issued a request and within an hour I had several responses.  It was all that quick.

We live in an age of instant communication. Yesterday I was able to watch the tv feed from a local station in Vancouver BC as the provincial election results were coming in. Here was I, half a world a way, and I was seeing reporters in Vancouver and Victoria. This blog has many regular readers that I know from around the globe, but also reaches out regularly to strangers in places like France, Germany and Brazil.  All this would not have been possible 25 years ago.

This instant communication is great on one hand. If I feel overly passionate about a subject, I can speak out about it. It gives me a platform to speak my mind. My friends, many who share my views, are able to know where I stand. They can comment or add to the discussion at hand. But sometimes strangers read my posts as well and they do not agree where I stand. Hopefully though if the dialogue remains respectfully, we will all learn something new about the topic.

But instant communication has its drawbacks. People sometimes post things which cause them grief later. Employees have been fired when the boss discovers what the employees were up to when they were supposed to be ill. Marriages have broken up when someone is caught sexting. President Trump's tweets may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but they take on a life of their own later. Instant communication is like smoke in a bottle. It is easy to release, but hard to put it back in the bottle after its been released.

It has never been easier to communicate with others than it is now. Facebook, twitter, instagram, and WhatsApp were not known at the turn of the century. Yet it is hard to imagine life without them. But we always have to be concerned about who is listening. How is our message being received? Who might the message upset? Yes we have a platform to share our message. But we must always tread carefully because when we share our stories with others, we are always treading on sacred ground. Blessings.

In reality

Television is full of reality shows. My Kitchen Rules, The Block, Masterchef, the Kardashians, the Apprentice, Survivor, the Real Housewives of wherever are just a few of these shows that seem to play endlessly on tv. I admit I have watched a couple of such series in my time. I did watch the first couple series of Survivor because it was new and different then. But it became boring. I liked to watch Sell this House where a designer would come in and make an old  house suitable for selling.  And I like Love it or List it where a realtor and a designer would compete to get a couple to decide either to love their renovated house or move in to a new house. I have never watched a Kardashian, or a real house wife series because I don't see how watching loud bombastic people benefits me. If I want to hear such chicanery, I just need to stand in front of a pub on a Friday night near closing time.

For many people they want to escape reality. The news on tv is bad. Governments talk about short falls, blame previous governments, cut backs, and raised taxes. The media seems fixed on topics like murders, terrorism, and global warming. People talk about overcrowded roads, the high cost of housing, and strained health services.  Is it any wonder we want to escape from reality?

Now I know some people feel that we should just ignore the bad news and consider the good. I went to the Wild Ideas Festival last Sunday. The topic was does the church have a future.   One of the speakers used (misused) stats to say that everything was wonderful in the world and yes the church could only grow. But we know that everything is not wonderful in the world. Refugee totals are at historically high levels. 650 million people live in dire poverty. Economic inequality is growing (where the 8 richest people in the world have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion).  Another speaker at the same event had nothing good to say about the church or the state of the world. For him the world was in crisis. There was no hope. According to that speaker, humanity is on the decline.

I think the answer is somewhere in between these two poles. Yes there are problems in the world.  But I see hope everyday. New babies born. Birds singing. People doing selfless acts.  On the other hand, many things are wonderful.  But we can still do better. Some are getting left behind. There are injustices that need to be righted. This is much more real than any housewives show.  Blessings.