Changing the World

I was riding my bike this morning around the UF campus and passed by two women who were sitting and watching their 3 young children as they played in the fountain immediately west of the chemistry building. The three kids were decked out in bathing suits (so obviously this was a planned event which makes it all the better). As I biked past, I thought to myself how awesome it was that these kids were having the time of their lives simply running back and forth through a fountain yelling and laughing at each other. Seeing the smiles on their faces, I tried to remember the last time I was THAT happy. As I thought back over weeks of studying French and just hanging around it came to me (playing football and swimming at Ricky's dad's farm earlier in the Spring), and although it wasn't very long ago, it had been a while. In fact, as I get older it seems that I perceive less and less of my life to be THAT fun.

I began to wonder at what age we lose that innocence, become a little more aware and concerned with the world around us, and start to have less and less fun, when at that moment I looked down at the naked handlebars on my bike and realized that the night before someone must have stolen my front and rear bike lights. My emotions immediately flared up and I forgot all about the happy kids that were playing in the fountain behind me. "How dare someone steal something from me", I thought, as if the person who did it was purposefully seeking to hurt me. My fall from reminiscing about childhood innocence back to an adult reality was quick, emotional, and it all occurred over something relatively trivial.

Although my initial reaction was that of anger, I quickly put it in perspective: this was about replacing something pretty cheap and the whole situation was arguably my fault (i.e. I left my lights on my bike outside overnight). I don't know who stole my bike lights and I bet I'll never find out. However, as I rethink what was going through my head at that moment and reflect on what emotions this simple act of unkindness produced inside me, I begin to see how blessed I've been throughout my life with plenty of "God Moments" to balance out life's painful memories. Even though I've had a good amount of "life's not fair moments", I can't even imagine having to deal with the amount of pain that the homeless people I regularly see outside my apartment complex have been dealt during their lifetime.

I think it is difficult to take this position in more complex circumstances, but as I sat there looking at my bike I made the conscious decision not to extend the hurt that someone had done to me and instead continue to reach out positively towards others. I am almost certain that the same person who stole my bike lights will continue to do other hurtful things to other people, but the growing roots of hateful acts that started a long time ago in this person's life and are continuing to negatively impact others will, in this case, stop here with me.

I'm not a bible scholar by any means, but I believe that much of the Old Testament can speak to us in metaphorical terms as well as literal. With all of this spinning around my head, I can't help but picture the story in Genesis with the idea of first sin in the Garden causing the fall of man. Although we can't ever go back in time and undue the "fall" of a person, we can move forward without spreading the hatred that is extended outward because of it and possibly start working with others on an individual basis to reduce the pain in the lives of people who are experiencing it. Although I don't think it's a healthy goal to try and revert back to the foolishness of childhood antics (aimlessly running through a fountain), I believe we all need to take each other a little less seriously, have fun, and constantly try to extend our love to those who it's not easy to love.

Thank for reading this long, random post. Feel free to leave your comments.