I spoke recently with a friend who manages an Edmonton funeral home. From the beginning I could tell he was highly upset. The cause was soon revealed. He was recalling an event from last winter when a middle-aged man arrived at his establishment, on a Wednesday afternoon, to arrange a funeral for his mother.
Before my friend could begin discussing the details, the client announced he wanted the funeral held on Friday at the latest. Curious as to why so fast a schedule was required, he asked the customer this same question, only to be told “my son has a hockey tournament starting on Saturday, and I want to get this out of the way before then.” My friend remembers this event under the title he assigned to it: “I’m Sorry My Death Inconvenienced You.”
While sad, this is just one of what seems to be countless examples I encounter, examples that make me wonder if we are in danger, as a species, of losing our humanity. Drive the QE II highway between Edmonton and Calgary, and you will be tailgated by countless vehicles – just inches from your back bumper, or passed by vehicles driving on the shoulder and even in the ditch! (No, I didn’t make this up – it happens regularly). No consideration, period.
We sit in restaurants with our partners, yet we are buried in cellphone discussions and web searches, totally ignoring the other person at the table (while they also ignore us). Speak to a receptionist at any busy office, and you are likely to be told about the hundreds of visitors and callers that are rude, arrogant and abusive. Try speaking kindly to a retail clerk, and note their astonishment that someone is being friendly to them – obviously, this rarely happens. Try counting the number of advertisements you see or hear for just one day (caution: the number is astronomical) – an economy dedicated to getting you to spend everything you have and then this same economy will lend you money to buy even more. Somehow, we fool ourselves into thinking that our happiness will increase if we could just buy more “stuff.”
Listen to politicians who promise you the moon, but ignore the fact that every dollar a government spends – every dollar – comes from you and me. Watch as our education system boringly promotes children through the grades, year after year, simply because it’s easier than actually trying to educate them. Visit a seniors’ home, and note how residents sleep all day – not because they want to, but because no one visits and because the staff would rather talk to each other than talk to the residents. Sit in the emergency department of the U of A Hospital, for as long as you can endure the tragedy. You’ll see hundreds of souls barely hanging on to life, and a health care system barely pretending to care.
Yes, there are still compassionate doctors, nurses, teachers, drivers and other citizens in all walks of life. There are many wonderful men and women in this world – genuine people who work incredibly hard to help the sick, the poor, the lonely, the forgotten members of our society. But while the need for these wonderful people increases daily, the supply dwindles, daily.
The ones that care are being worked to death. Join any volunteer service organization, and you’ll soon be working 24 hours a day. It’s not that the organization wants to wear you out – it’s just because they don’t have anyone to do the work. Everyone else is too busy in their quest to get even more “stuff.”
One need not be Christian, or even religious, to appreciate that the Bible contains a wealth of great philosophical ideas about how to live our lives – regardless of our religious beliefs (or lack thereof). One of these philosophies seems, to me, so powerful and so appropriate for our current malaise: “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Amen.
Brian is a long-time resident of St. Albert.
