I've had a lot to think about lately. Natural disasters. Earthquakes. Coal mines. Health care. Despite my crazy, erratic Facebook posts, which usually depend more on my mood than what's actually going on in my head at the moment, I do keep up with current events. In fact, yesterday was the first day I had been home late enough in the morning to watch part of a morning news program.
Usually, I leave home for work so early each day that the only things playing on the television are Nick at Nite, Dora the Explorer, and those really creepy "The-Shining"-like infomercials about teaching your 3-month-old to read. Yesterday, I learned about a father who rescued his drowning baby James-Bond-style after she fell from a sightseeing ship, a guy who shot a high schooler after the kid's ball accidentally grazed his car during a game of touch football, and a California seismologist who assures me that we have 13 more earthquakes to look forward to this year, as our yearly total is normally around 17. With the exception of the baby-saving story, it was all pretty depressing.
I wish there could be some sort of program that gave us all the depressing news and then told us what we as individual viewers could do to help rectify or address the situations. I know that prayer always works wonders and that if I'm ever unsure of what to do to help someone in need, I can pray. At the same time though, part of me wanted to send a card to the fallen high schooler's family; another part of me wanted to do more to make sure those I know are well-prepared in the event of a natural disaster (earthquake, tornado, whatever.)
I realize that sending a card wouldn't really do much to ease the pain for the kid's grief-stricken family and that there is really only so much preparing for a natural disaster one can do, but sometimes, I think doing a little bit of something is better than doing a whole lot of nothing.
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