I saw an ad the other day about one of those organizations that help starving children around the world. Of course it showed images that were bleaker than bleak; horrible living conditions, no sanitation or water and distended bellies - this is the advertiser's goal. Then, out of the blue, they showed an image of a child's face light up like a Christmas tree for no apparent reason. Her eyes crinkled and her tiny white teeth glowed from within a smile that might have broken my face and I thought, what could possibly make that little girl so happy?
Then, I started thinking of other images that we've all seen recently; people in the war-torn Middle East, victims of natural disasters and terrorist attacks. I can vividly remember the shock and pain in those faces. Photos have captured confusion and anger in the faces of these people; they have caused us all to count our blessings numerous times.
It seems that this new millennium has seen me tucking my children a little tighter and praying a little more, as I am sure has happened with many people around the world. I am more grateful than ever for the meals I am able to serve my family and the clean clothes and warm blankets I have the good fortune to provide to them. I often think of people who have been affected by the recent tragedies we've seen in the news and I wonder if they will ever be able to find happiness in their lives.
Then, from nowhere, we see a picture of a radiant smile brightening the bleakest of landscapes and it gives us pause. They are stronger than I am, I think, to be able to keep living when things look so tough. An extremely sunny disposition has blessed them with eternal optimism; or so I believe. How else could they be smiling and laughing and, well, living?
These people are living because they are alive and have survived. They have mourned their losses, given thanks for what they have and now have gone about the business of living. Because even in the face of adversity, we still fall in love so hard it hurts; we still make love and have babies. We search the night sky for signs that we are not alone and marvel in the size of the universe and we find beauty in the little things. We still are amazed and pleased by our babies' progress in the world and take pride in our grown children's accomplishments, no matter how small. A good joke is still appreciated and humor still lights even the hungriest faces. There are still weddings and birthdays and dancing and funerals. But still, we survive and life goes on.
Most of all, though, I think we survive because in the moment when all else seems lost, we still help our fellow humans to set about the task of surviving. When we could be focusing on our losses exclusively, we reach out our hand to the stranger next to us and together we hold on for dear life because life is dear. We survive because we all want to believe that there is more good than evil in the world and the good guy always wins. We survive because there are still beautiful moments to be had and memories to be cherished. We survive because instinctively we all know that we are the same inside and that life stops for no one.
