state of the union

"oh wow!"

those were the words out of my husbands mouth last night, on seeing the msn headline about anna nicole smith's death. until that moment, i honestly didn't even know that he knew who she was. he barely knows who britney spears is. but there it was.... "oh wow". today there are no less than 8 headlines on msn.com that refer to her life and death - the most honest one being "what made us care about anna nicole smith". not that we shouldn't care about people, because we should. but why do people like curtis know who she is? what does it say about our cultural consciousness that she rates top billing over the war, or over....

homeless hospital patients being dumped out of van onto skid row. welcome to hollywood, indeed. in the glorious city of los angelos, a DOZEN - that is TWELVE - hospitals are under investigation for taking their homeless patients and literally throwing them out of vans into alleyways...not taking them to shelters or hospices, but leaving them in their gowns and socks in the worst parts of town, then racing off. really? this is what humanity has come down to? there isn't enough money in the gigantic casino that is the modern american hospital to treat the impoverished with dignity?

i find it sad, these two news items. sad for anna nicole's baby girl, who will grow up with controversy in a lonely house and a whispering city. and my hearts breaks for the inhumanizing humiliation of those too poor to "deserve" help. but most of all, it makes me sad to think that this is where we have landed...where we have ended up. people consumed with decadence and unwilling to help our fellow man - who we could just as easily be, but for the grace of God. i am just a guilty - i lap up the headlines in the kroger checkout aisle, and avoid eye contact with the man on the corner asking for "any help, God bless". and shame on me. i am not capable of changing a nation. but i am capable of changing myself. and perhaps the small ripple of that will affect someone around me, who can -in turn - affect someone else. this is not a new theory, i know...but it's about time it became more than a theory. it's about time it got put into practice. to live generously, love lavishly, give without expecting something back, love those who don't love you, walk with grace through the oceans of hurting people. it seems to me that Someone suggested living like this a long, long time ago. it's about time i got started.