by Georgie Bright Kunkel

There are numerous appreciation days celebrated in this country--

Veterans Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day just to name a few. But in a society that reveres the fat cats of the world, it is unusual to appreciate the day to day worker who puts in eight or more hours to contribute their share to serve humanity. Just think of the hours that line workers put in after a storm, those who are on rescue crews in mountain areas, or those who police the highways especially during busy holiday time. It takes many people to keep our society running smoothly. It isn’t often that we stop and thank those who serve us in so many ways.

Just the other night a storm hit the northwest. While I was safe and warm in my bed there were many workers mopping up after downed trees and telephone poles. Many remember the times when areas of West Seattle were out of power. During one particularly long power outage I had even emptied my freezer and brought the contents over to my neighbor whose power was fortunately not affected by the outage.
So much is taken for granted until suddenly our modern way of life is disrupted.

I began thinking about the shock that cell phone users would feel if the towers that facilitate their service were to be destroyed. So many of us have become used to having our hand held devices available at all hours without a thought of what makes them tick. So much of our lives is dependent upon the modern technology that is always at our fingertips. The smart phones substitute even for our memory as they can be tapped to answer any question, provide any direction and supply any information we may need.

But nothing that occurs in our lives happens in a vacuum. My church is based upon the belief that each human is a part of an interdependent web of life. We are urged not to forget that. Every act makes a wave into the ocean of thought around the world. We are not isolated but are a small part of the great universe, interacting hopefully in harmony. You have already learned where I stand on interrelatedness. Every action we take stimulates a reaction and affects our surroundings in some way. Since I tend to be outspoken at times, I recently was reminded that I could be more thoughtful about the timing of my remarks no matter how valid they might be.

Appreciation of the world we were born into is something that we learn as we mature. I was brought up not only to appreciate my world but to influence the world around me to make positive change. As I have mentioned before, even Schweitzer disturbed the environment to create the essential circumstances in which he carried on his craft. He tried to preserve life but even he realized that he had to kill germs in his operating theater.

As I have mentioned often, every human act changes the environment in some way. It is up to every human to live in such a way that does not harm other human beings. We are all interdependent and since the earth is finite we must preserve it for posterity as we learn to mine the earth without destroying it for future generations. So until we find a way to live on space stations, we are stuck here on earth with the choice to live equitably while remembering that there are future generations to follow us. Yes, that is a great responsibility. But we humans have the capability to make this earth home for many generations to come if we look up from our lockstep existence and plan for those who will live on this earth after we leave.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at 206-935-8663 or gnkunkel@comcast.net