"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

Back in the 60's we had the hippies (or flower children) who practiced a doctrine of "make love, not war". Many of them lived in communes where they planted gardens and lived off the earth. They lived simply. A lot of them also lived a lifestyle that included free sex and and a lot of drugs. They peacefully demonstrated against the Viet Nam War (or conflict, as it was called back then). While their basic tenets were sound, they carried things to extremes. They lost credibility because of the excesses they practiced.

When I think back to those days, I wonder what would have happened if the hippies had lived more moderately. Would some of the beliefs they held have spread and affected a larger segment of the population? Is there anything wrong with showing our love for one another, or focusing on the beauty of this earth rather than on a stuggle to make more and more money? Could we all live more happily with fewer material goods?

Obviously the hippies weren't "zoned out" all the time. A lot of what they said made complete sense. What is the most important thing in our lives? Is it living together in peace and harmony or is it joining the rat race so we can buy more, and more, and more stuff?

We buy stuff that we don't have a use for, some of which we don't even want. Why do we buy it? Is it to look prosperous to our friends? Is it to improve our own self-image? Why have we become a society of procurers of stuff? Buying things that are meaningful to us is one thing ~ buying things just to achieve or maintain a certain status is another.

I hate to say it but we've become a society of materialistic snobs. We look down on someone who drives an old, beaten up car or who doesn't dress in the current fashion. We judge people by how much they have, not by who they are.

I think all of our possessions have crowded out our common sense and surely a lot of our humanity. When we see a homeless person on the street we automatically consider him or her a loser; someone who has no ambition, a derelect and probably an addict. We seem to think he or she has chosen that way of life. Do we stop to realize that the only thing that may separate us from them is a "pink slip"?

Some homeless people were once just like us. They had families who loved them, they held jobs and supported themselves, they lived like you and me. But then something catastrophic happened. Maybe one lost his job and couldn't find another. Maybe another tragically lost a loved one and couldn't deal with the loss. Maybe someone else was horribly mistreated by people whom she loved and trusted. We don't know their stories.

Neither do we know the stories of the middle aged man who drives a battered up car and dresses in ragged clothing, the young woman who struggles to raise her child alone, or an elderly couple who has grown embittered with life. But we have a name for all of them, don't we?

Instead of labeling people, what if we did something to try and help them? Maybe we have no more to give than a pleasant smile and a warm greeting or maybe we have time to volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen. Maybe we could visit the lonely souls whose families have forgotten them . . . you can find them anywhere. We could donate to a food pantry for the poor or support a charitable organization that makes a difference. It doesn't matter how much or how little we have to give ~ the important thing is that we give.

And just maybe, we should think about the old adage "there but for the grace of God go I". A basic truth in life is that no one is guaranteed that the comfortable lifestyle he lives will last forever. In the blink of an eye we, too, can be poor, alone or homeless. Maybe we should think about that the next time we're out shopping for stuff and come across someone who is less fortunate. Maybe we won't be so quick to judge.

Next time you go on a shopping spree, consider the amount you've spent on things you don't need. Think about how much that money would mean to a man who doesn't have enough to eat, a mother who can't buy her growing children new clothes, or the family who can't pay their electric bill. Then tell me who deserves to be judged.

Maybe the hippies had a point when they proposed that we all love and take care of one another.