An Oxymoron

This world, in itself, is an oxymoron.

This world is ugly, and horrible, and full of pain and suffering, and hate. Full of people who refuse to give a homeless man a dollar, people who push and shove on the subway, who curse out in traffic, possibly unaware a three year old can hear all those harsh words. It’s full of rain, and hurricanes, and tornadoes and earthquakes, and drought, and the suffering that happens afterwards. It’s full of war, and death, and disease, and dying, and loosing those you love. In this world there is intolerance, and hatred, in forms of racism, sexism, discrimination, bullying, and homophobia. There are relationships that will never see another sunrise and families that get broken and shattered like a stained glass window. There’s loneliness of the outcasts, the misfits, the sole survivors, there’s tears that are falling somewhere, nearly every second, the self-hate and harm, and the world is a terrible ugly place.

There’s also sunrises and sunsets, filled with more colors than imaginable. There’s the miracle of childbirth, and all the little things that restore faith in humanity. There was that elderly couple holding hands, as the man helped the woman walk across the parking lot to Wal-Mart. And the thirty-something woman who took her elderly mother out for dinner, and helped her into her seat. There’s those that are tolerant, and passionate, and are slowly changing the minds of the haters, giving hope to the rest. There’s laughter, and tears of joy that run down a mother’s face at her son’s graduation, and when her husband walks their daughter down the aisle. There’s the contagious disease known as a smile. There are flowers, and stars and a moon, and the leaves changing color in the fall, and snowball fights in the winter.  There’s the universal language of music that connects us all. But most importantly, there is love, something so beautiful it cannot be put into words.

So in itself, the world, the earth, this place we call home is an oxymoron in itself. It’s horrible and tragic, and perfect and filled with love. It’s Ying and Yang, good and evil, all rolled into one. And each day we live here, every time we witness hate, and every time we witness hope, we know that this is home. This planet, and this world, that is getting better every day. Every time hatred is replaced with tolerance, and every time someone laughs, or smiles, or cries, or fights, we know that this is humanity. And we are human, and this world is what we make it.