We’re strange creatures, we humans. We’re blessed with the most complex and sophisticated brains of any species on earth (although we may soon be overtaken by IBM’s Deep Blue or something Bill Gates is working on in his basement). But from the way we behave sometimes, one might conclude we have the brainpower of a fig.
We not only do really stupid things, like driving a two-ton, 300-horsepower automobile while shaving and listening to the radio, but we also have the ability to do things so subtle and so ingenious that we’re able to fool even ourselves into believing that circumstances are other than they are. One of our more significant accomplishments, for example, is mastering a trick that Houdini had to use mirrors for: making things invisible.
Not a week goes by in which newspapers and broadcast media don’t run yet another addendum to the ongoing story of some part of the world where starvation, genocide, rape, and AIDS are a daily occurrence. The accompanying photos usually show a person weeping over a dead body, a three-year-old child so malnourished you can count her ribs, or a woman, widowed and with advanced AIDS, surrounded by seven little children, all of whom, the caption explains, will shortly become orphans and have to scavenge in garbage dumps for something to eat because their government can’t deal with it and international relief agencies are plumb out of rations.
And here’s where our advanced brainpower takes over: It miraculously enables us to instantly wipe all of the above out of our consciousness—without a pause, without a tear, without another thought. This is part of the superior intelligence that enables us to lord it over dogs and bison and goldfish.
“Well,” you might say, “surely you don’t expect us all to go around constantly thinking of all the troubles, the evils, the unmet humanitarian needs in the world. Why, we’d all be totally depressed, frustrated and, for at least most of us, guilt ridden.”
“You’re right,” I’d say. “Life is too short and the world is too beautiful for us to spend all our time dwelling on how bad things are. All I’m suggesting is that we take off our rose-colored Ray-Bans now and then, think about what’s going on in the world, in our community, even within our little circle, and then, 1) be grateful for all the good and the blessings in our lives, and 2) quick, think of some little way we can help ameliorate just one of the problems or injustices that surround us.”
Now, you won’t be shocked to learn that I have another suggestion. On a personal level, and aside from any political considerations, the war in Iraq is a tragedy. More than 2,500 beautiful, young, hopeful Americans have lost their lives there; thousands upon thousands have lost limbs, suffered debilitating physical or mental damage, and had their lives and their families’ lives forever changed in ways and to a degree we won’t be able to fully assess for years.
We read the statistics, we hear the stories, we cluck our tongues and acknowledge the latest sacrifices for the briefest moment, and then we block it out. But we can do more.
We can be part of a little organization that will put it back into our consciousness, and it’s called Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund. The fund tries to raise money (and it’s frustratingly hard), and then turns around and gives it to Minnesota men and women who have been serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. The note of thanks “from your Minnesota friends and neighbors” brings tears to the eyes of many who receive it because, they say, they really had no idea if anyone understood or appreciated the life-changing sacrifices they’ve made. The checks are treasured, too, as you might imagine, especially by the families of those who can never return.
Here’s a specific, meaningful way you can make the invisible visible again. Perhaps you have other, more appealing ways, and that’s fine, too. But if you’d like to help say thank you to Minnesota servicemen and -women, this is a simple, instantaneous way to do it. Go to your computer and type in www.thankmntroops.org and donate if you feel so moved. It would be a good thing to do.
