Imagine...

John Lennon's inspirational song makes me fearful for humanity. Really. Going anywhere, I encounter so many people who are enraged, discourteous, selfish and seriously MEAN. It's impossible to imagine people giving up possessions and materialism when they practically shoot each other for a parking spot, or go into serious debt for overpriced goods. And religion, while the saving grace for many a sinner, is used to justify killing and maiming. Lennon's song envisions a utopia that anyone with five functioning brain cells realizes is impossible. So why do we keep imagining it? Why yearn for something that can never be (like me perpetually being a size six with no gray)? No war, no injustice, no harm, no calories in my latte. Not happening, people! Sad, isn't it? Yet, as I explain to my son for the umpteenth time that people are free to make bad choices even if the rest of us have to suffer for them, there is so much that is uplifting about humanity too. When I had jaw surgery, my family, neighbors and friends rallied round. Even people from my church whom I barely knew, sent me texts, FB messages, prayer shawls, meals, and then visited. The human condition is a conundrum; we are our own and at times our neighbor's worst enemy, and then we are shining examples of the superior beings we aspire to be. Confused? Yeah, me too. It's like we're all dual personality people, like Batman's nemesis Two Face. Sometimes we wear the evil face, sometimes the good. Driving in rush hour brings out everyone's evil face and the cute lol cats brings out anyone's good side. (Even dog lovers.) In the end, we all come back to 'The Choice.' Which path will you take during the many opportunities in the day; the highway to hell or the road to higher ground? I'll try to remember I have the option of being a better person, although it's going to be hard if just one more person cuts me off.