“Men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the “culture of waste.” If a computer breaks it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs and dramas of so many people end up being considered normal…. When the stock market drops 10 points in some cities, it constitutes a tragedy. Someone who dies is not news, but lowering income by 10 points is a tragedy! In this way people are thrown aside as if they were trash.” – Pope Francis

I originally wrote about 600 pointless words on this. I went on a rant, which was absolutely a great work of art, but in one fail swoop, I hit the delete key. All that work that I put into that, gone. Nothing could get it back. The pristine words, put into a delicate interwoven story meant to be easy on the eyes and spark thoughts to my audience, wiped away in a single instance. That delete key describes everything about us today.

We are so eager to just throw away and cast aside everything that does not fit into mainstream society as a whole. Instead of embracing and understanding other points of view, we are so quick to erase them from mention. We cast aside our fellow humans as if they were plastic containers. We marginalize others because they want to pray in a courtyard, or because they do not have a roof over their heads. We would rather turn our heads and pretend they are just a deleted item in our computer’s recycle bin. We are so quick to be offended and speak out to remove something, or someone from public view, rather than listen to each other, or figure out a solution to the problem. Is the addition or removal of words or murals or statues really going to serve a purpose in the end? Are these worldly symbols really becoming our battle cries in life? I am all for a cause, but can we start movements that have a common good in mind? Throwing a fit because “In God We Trust” is on our coinage is ludicrous to complain about, when three seconds from your house someone is hungry, or in need of a help or support.  Honestly, we have to start moving ourselves towards love and not hate. We have to teach future generations the opposite of what we have grown accustomed to.

I am sorry for the rant, but I can only pray that I see this shift in society in my day.