BE CIVILIZED

 

Hurricane Hope

A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead what she thought was the first sign of civilization, expecting the emergence of clay pots or grinding stones.  Mead didn’t mention these basic creations but the discovery of a healed thigh bone.  It was evident that this long-deceased person had experienced a deadly injury that would have most certainly ended their life.  But someone carried them to safety and nursed the individual back to health to thrive again. 

Mead said that “helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts.”  When Jesus was challenged about which was the most important commandment of the over 600 Jewish commandments at the time, he simply asked us to “love God and love others”. 

The prophet Micah wrote in 700 B.C. that God has shown us what is good.  And his expectation for us is to be just, kind and humble.  We human beings are at our best when we help one another.  Especially those who are marginalized and those who are the victims of tragedies that are beyond comprehension such as war, inhumane acts of violent people and extreme episodes of nature like devastating hurricanes, tornados, wild fires, etc.  Those challenging times provide the arena for demonstrating that we still have the capacity for being civilized.