WHAT'S GOING TO BE LEFT FOR MARY

                                    

 What’s going to be left for Mary? That’s a question that haunts me as I look at the world around me, and all of the problems we have. ‘”Who’s Mary,” you say? She’s my six-year-old granddaughter, and she starts first grade this year. “Significant” you ask? Well, it is for me and Mary, and all of the other Marys’ and Marks’ who start first grade this year. They’re not worried about the same things we are right now.  They, in their innocence, have placed their trust in us and in all of the leaders of this country. They trust that we will take care of our land, and leave them something useful to build on and live in.

As time goes on, they’ll realize how badly we have betrayed their trust and instead of building on what we have done, they will have to rebuild on what we abused and destroyed through greed and misuse. It’s not just material things I am talking about. It’s our way of life. It’s what we have done to honesty and decency, and all in the name of what we felt was our freedom to do so. But it was actually greed, and an effort to make us feel good, with little regard for the generations to come. It will have to be rebuilt, because what we have now isn’t sustainable, and we know it.

I used to watch the potato farmers, back in Brooklyn Park, where we lived. Each year, after they harvested their crop, they replanted the fields with rye grass. An added expense for sure, because they just plowed it under in the spring. But if the snows didn’t come to cover their fields, they knew that the good topsoil would blow away and before long, the crops would suffer in years to come. They were always looking to next year, and for them, their land was sacred. I walk my dog down our little country road most days, and each day I find the road and ditches littered with trash. I, and other concerned people, pick it up but it keeps right on coming back. Every gas station and grocery has a trash refuse can, but these people who litter are too lazy and self-centered to use that route. I doubt they even think it’s wrong.

When I was a kid, no parent had to worry about what his or her kids were watching on television.  At the uptown theater, movies were shown that were made for families to enjoy. You could go outside and play without being accosted by some pervert. Police officers and teachers were respected. You learned the ABC’s in school and not about social issues that seem to dominate the news and are best discussed at home. Now, we worry about chemicals in our water and our soil. Mercury and lead, herbicides and pesticides. Invasive species, brought here by man, are ruining our lakes and rivers. Drugs are everywhere and our prisons are full. Everyone knows someone who has died of an overdose or fried his or her brains. Nothing is safe, even in your own home. Stupid, senseless wars, which accomplish nothing but kill people. Did I mention 16 trillion dollars in debt? I could go on but won’t.

I am so sorry, Mary. We have failed you, and every one of your classmates and first graders all over this land. I only hope you can rise above the mess we have made and turn this world back to what God intended it to be. That’s right, I said, “God.” Remember him? I doubt you will hear it in school.