The Blessings of Companionship

I've been doing some thinking recently.

Here in the blogosphere, I can, if I so choose, get a Greek chorus at all times of everything wrong with the world. It doesn't matter what site I access or where I set down my words on the internet. If I want to be reminded of the awful side of human conduct, it will always be there for me.

As a member of Generation X, when I speak to my contemporaries, I can always find fear, distrust, and anger no matter where I go. I hate to think this is our legacy. I would rather be inclined more to borrow from my little sister's generation, which has embraced a new spirit of idealism and the ethos of live-and-let-live.

But I've lately begun to wonder, due to the proverbial existential crisis that we all have at some point in our lives, if this kind of doom and gloom laden perspective does much good at all. Not just selfishly for me but for everyone else in the world.

Indeed, would it hurt us to laugh more? Would it do us much harm at all to give ourselves credit for the good things and focus less upon the negative? The Bible tells us there will be wars and rumors of wars so long as there are people who walk the Earth.

So I've contemplated these words of Soloman today. These days, my belief in a Providential authority is strong and whatever passage the book falls open to seems more than just synchronicity personified.

Two can accomplish more than twice as much as one, for the results can be much better. If one falls, the other pulls him up; but if a man falls when he is alone, he's in trouble.

Also, on a cold night, two under the same blanket gain warmth from each other, but how can one be warm alone? And one standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer; three is even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

It is better to be a poor but wise youth than to be an old and foolish King who refuses all advice. Such a lad could come from prison and succeed. He might even become king, though born in poverty. Everyone is eager to help a youth like that, even to help him usurp the throne. He can become the leader of millions of people, and be very popular. But, then, the younger generation grows up around him and rejects him!

So again, it is all foolishness, chasing the wind!

These words could be described as empty, futile, and hollow but also truthful. We can choose to embrace this particular mind-frame if we so choose. I, however, would rather not. I would rather look for the silver lining than be content to dwell on the negative side of existence.

Life is too short. Our time here on Earth too time-limited. What is the point of living if we devote every waking moment towards pointing out every flaw in every place?