Thoughts

Sayings such as "it takes a village to raise a child" and "no man is an island"... the continued popularity of Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables... reunion sites like MySpace and Facebook... seem to reinforce a theory of mine.

I believe there is a common need within humans to have a close knit network of loved ones. The traditional community where neighbors stopped by to visit and family went to grandmother's for holidays and you knew whose name to cuss out when  you found dog poo on your lawn. That community is becoming history and is being replaced by a society of superficiallness.

Text relationships where a scathing remark is ok because it was followed by LOL. Homes where fathers sit downstairs alone while adolescent children play internet games with people in other countries whom they've never met. Bored youth who rob the local electronics store for entertainment and never have to worry about facing the owner in the street the next day.

Hmmm, that sounds like I'm saying technology is the big bad wolf. It's not. It's the way that our culture is adapting to these inovations that I disaprove of. Not only are we being denied a moral compass, but we're missing a familiar face that recognizes without words that today was not a good day. We're missing the innate sense of knowing that someone out there does care. Artificial replacements have grown up. Activities like playgroup, book club, and 'neighborhood watch'.

Have you had a day lately where you never heard your name spoken out loud? A day where you didn't get hugged, or even feel the touch of another human being? A day where nobody smiled at you? Our souls know that we are loved, even when the words aren't said.