Captain Kirk, Where Are You?

November 8, 2016 . . . to boldly go where no man has gone before . . .

It's almost impossible to go anywhere without feeling the fallout caused by the 2016 presidential election.  While everyone is entitled to an opinion,  it seems that many feel that it is somehow their duty to sway everyone else to their way of thinking, as if there is only one way in which to believe.  Watching the news or simply looking at Facebook can be frustrating. 

All the dissonance and tempers being tested back and forth can be addicting.  It becomes so very easy to get sucked in and to feel like one must take a side. I found myself wondering, what is it that makes me feel so frustrated with people I don't even know?  I had to think about it for a while. 

I find it reminiscent of an old Star Trek episode from years back entitled “Day of the Dove”.  Leave it to Gene Roddenberry to create something so pertinent to basic human behavior that it could fit into any time frame! In this episode, both humans and Klingons are lured to a planet by a formless entity that seems to feed on hatred. The entity creates an atmosphere where it will most certainly have a permanent supply.  Sound familiar?

Of course, James T. Kirk eventually figures it out. He then goes on to convince all involved how utterly useless the hatred and anger is, how it accomplishes absolutely nothing, but keeps feeding on itself, becoming stronger and stronger.  The humans and Klingons make a decision to work together, letting the evil entity know that it no longer has power over them, and that they alone have the power over their emotions and actions. 

So where is Captain Kirk today?  Is there anyone out there with the wisdom of Captain Kirk?  Although he's only a character from an old TV series, stories and characters can be very enlightening.  So what lesson can we draw from the wisdom of James T. Kirk?

Perhaps we need to address the "evil entity" that looms out there today.  Is it truly one-sided, as each of the news networks report, or is it something more sinister?  Something so hungry for rancor that it will stop at nothing for its self-serving gluttonous needs.  We need to put an end to feeding the hatred, anger, and divisiveness, and let it die a natural death.  In doing so, it will have no more power over us.  But how? 

What if we collectively took a little "time out", so to speak? What if we took a break from anger, hatred, frustration, and from trying to force our views on others?  What if we each took an introspective look at ourselves? What if we simply stopped feeding the beast, and redirected that time, effort, and passion, toward simply doing something positive instead?

Acts of kindness, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant go a long way. If we were more involved in actually caring and taking care of one another, the hate and anger just might be replaced by something much more powerful and positive.

Children in foster homes, or those needing help in reading or math are all around us.  There are elderly people simply longing for a friendly visit, and teens desperately in need of mentors.  Lonely people long for a kind gesture.  Families who are dealing with cancer and other sicknesses could use help on so many levels.  We could rescue a pet from a homeless shelter or simply write a letter.  The opportunities are endless! 

What If 50,000 people planning to attend a protest, decided instead to take those three hours to simply help or befriend just one person. Imagine how many lives 150,000 hours of kindness could touch, and how many problems in our society might be averted if people simply knew that someone sincerely cared about them.

Hopefully it would give a glimpse as to how useless hatred and anger are, and that genuine hope and caring are far better attributes to live by.