‘People are what life is all about’

It was a sentence in a Christmas newsletter written by my wife. It is a word that has stayed with me since that time.

“People are what life is all about.”

I can think of no better word for our time. People that we have overlooked are suddenly important to our existence. The clerk in the grocery store, the truck drivers, the mail man, the druggist, the cleaning lady in the hospital, the waiter and many more. Then the doctors, nurses, orderlies and a host of others including home care givers. These are those who serve us and maintain our lives.

It was at a high school track meet. I was part way along in a long distance race when I was ready to give up. In the stands was a girl from our high school who was jumping up and down and cheering me on. It was enough to urge me on to not only finish the race but to win it.

As people, we all need others to cheer us on. What is it like to play the game with no one in the stands to cheer us on!? The players will tell you that this is happening in all levels where fans are not allowed in the stands.

Then there are teachers where there are no students in the classroom but on a computer. A geology teacher who tries to talk about rocks without holding them. Then there are ministers who preach in a church with no one in the pews. When people were asked what it was that brought them to church they said it was to meet their friends. That is what we miss most when a church door is closed.

There was a time when a lot of people who worked in car assembly lines were displaced by automation. Then this carried on into many industries even today. It was suggested that it would free up people to be what they were meant to be — care givers to other people. It is one in which we both give to others and receive from others. As a special song says, “...people who need people are the luckiest people alive.”

In our world today our survival depends on how we care for each other. Class and race are to be no more. We are in this together.

We have been friends over many years. We often exchanged letters and Rusty always signed off with these words to my wife and myself... Take care of each other!