Wednesday, June 24, 2009

6,790,062,216

6.79 billion. . .that's a lot! According to the World Fact Boook, 6,790,062,216 is the current population of the world. Of course, since people are being born and dying all over the world at every given moment, I'm not sure how it can identify such an exact number. Plus, what was the precise moment in time that the number was recorded? Certainly by the time I'm writing this, the number has already changed. But, it's kind of exciting to know at least a rough estimate of how many of us there are on this planet for now--or at least at the moment the number was recorded.

This has always been an intriguing thought to me: There's only one ME. How cool is that? How sad is that? No. . . I take it back. . .it's not sad at all. That I'm unique is extraordinary. What is ther power of ME?

But the other baffling part of all this is that of the 6.79 billion people in the world, how many EXACTLY identical "consciousnesses" are there? By "consciousness", I mean "understanding of the world and life and everything". In other words, what two people in the world SEE absolutely everything EXACTLY the same, and understand the world in exactly the same way? I don't think any two are identical. Like snowflakes, there are 6,790,062,216 DIFFERENT views on what life REALLY is and means, etc. Sure we all subscribe to similar creeds, religions, anti-religions, and whatever. . . but when it comes down to it, we each vary ever so slightly on the way we see it. And the truly amazing part is that we ALL think we've got it RIGHT. Extraordinary!!!

Regardless. . .rather than shake my faith, this realization strengthens it. In consideration of the the various differences all of humanity shares, the fact that we SHARE those differences makes us a human family. That we're each unique with a unique perspective on things is part of the power of the individual. It's the power of ME. And yet, the fact that we all SHARE this same power gives an extraordinary power of WE. The contrast of our human "sameness" and uniqueness makes our existence as a human family absolutely beautiful.

The question I think too few of us are considering--or perhaps we just consider it too rarely is this: To what great end are we individually or collectively exercising the powers of ME and WE? How does this question influence what I do with my time in a lifetime, a decade, year, month, week day, hour, minute, . . . even this second?

3 comments:

Karen--your mom said...

My dear Blaine Son...
I eagerly turned on the computer this morning in anticipation of seeing what BLAINE wrote on his Blog. And I was richly rewarded!!
Thanks for the enlightening thought-provoking comments regarding the importance of the individual. I always knew YOU were important!! Remember how Bill Cosby always used to say, "No one knew as I was growing up, that I was THE Bill Cosby."...remember that? And remember how I always told you, "I know that you are THE Blaine Hone!"...and indeed you ARE of great worth, my son.
I love the way you write. It's VERY thought-provoking!!
Love, A doting Mom
(p.s. I knew you'd be writing 'cause as you recover, that's one of the main things you can do for FUN---right??)

Lhone said...

Yeah, I've heard you say this before- (but, she hasn't) :) I'm glad I got the only you there is!

Kam said...

Ah, yes, this is a familiar conversation. I think I probably heard you say this even before Lisa. ha! But I do love the idea and find it a refreshing thought for anytime. Yep, I'm also glad to know THE Blaine Hone.