Contributors corner; Gold coins

Gold Coins

(A Philosophy)

©2012 Bo Kirgis

     Ok, I'm going to ask everybody who reads this to indulge me for a moment. Just imagine, if you will, that every single living soul on this earth, (At present count, that would number OVER 7,000,000,000 PEOPLE! ….that's  7 BILLION!! ), were all standing around one enormous Crater in the ground. Now, imagine that this Crater was emitting the most awful, horrid cloud of noxious, lethal fumes. A killer gas that not only possessed the most nauseating stench possible but also killed it's victims in the most violently painful and horrific convulsions that you can picture in your mind. (Feel free to envision your worst nightmare here). And if we didn't stop it, it would kill EVERY LIVING THING!! Not only that, but, it wouldn't just kill proportionately, it would either kill ALL or NOTHING. No in-between. 

     So,.. what if the solution to avoid disaster was this simple. Every one of us had to throw 1 Gold Coin in the hole because gold was precisely the correct element to render the gas harmless and 7 billion was the appropriate number of coins required to fill the hole. Don't you think that it would be worth it to put in your share? What if you had hundreds of those Gold Coins. That would be pretty easy, huh? But, what if you only had 2 Gold Coins? Or maybe only 1 Gold Coin?! Wouldn't you think it was worth the sacrifice to give all you have to avert this immediate danger to you and your own. (Rewind to the horrified faces writhing in pain.)

     Well, what if the person next to you didn't have their 1 Gold Coin. Just to keep the gas from killing you and your loved ones, would you not be willing to throw in 2 Gold Coins? And, what if that person was from a different neighborhood than you. Or a different town, or state or country. What if they spoke different, or dressed different. What if they were taller than you? Or shorter? What if they were ugly or smelled bad, would they still be worthy of your genorosity. Ah, but what if that person next to you happened to be of another race or religion. Now what would you do? What if that person is a liar, a cheat, a thief, or a murderer. It wouldn't feel so easy then, would it! But we still have the same dilemma at hand. If the quota of Gold Coins isn't met, the gas is still going to kill ALL of us. Not just the undesirable people, but, YOU AND EVERY ONE YOU LOVE!!

     Alright now. Let's add another dimension of adversity to the mix. YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR GOLD COIN! Now what are you going to do? You can't just stand there and expect somebody to feel generous enough to cover you? Why would they? Why should they? Who are you? Where do you come from? You are not their responsibility.  You never did anything for them!…., Wait a minute,…. aren't you the one who ignored them when they asked for directions, or did you knowingly sell them that lemon of a car? Did you park in the handicap spot, because you're just that incredibly lazy and inconsiderate, which caused them an extra problem as they went grocery shopping in their wheelchair because they can't walk. Maybe you're the one who told that lie that got them fired because you wanted their job. Hey, aren't you the bully who used to terrorize them in school. Or was that you who stole that couples newborn baby girl so you could sell her for drug money. Were you the one who killed all those little children at the school because you "lost your mind". Whoa,.. I know who you are,… you're the one who once set a man on fire just because he was a homosexual! And YOU want ME to pay YOUR 1 Gold Coin?!?! 

NEWSFLASH, PEOPLE! 

WE'RE ALREADY THERE!!    

                 

     Moral decay is at an all-time high and is causing a cumulative effect of "bad begets bad". The "Crater" is every crappy thing that we've done in our lifetime. It's filled with all the bad things we've knowingly chosen to do. Every time we had a choice to do Right or Wrong and deliberately chose Wrong, we heaped more "stinkin' thinkin'" on the compost pile which festers and turns into the "Gas" which envelopes us all thereby causing everyone to make more bad choices, and so on, and so on. How many times have you heard "…well he did it", as if that was some kind of "get out of jail free" card. It's the snowball effect. One person drove 2 mph over the speed limit and got away with it, so this one drives 5 mph over and also gets away with it, so then everyone says "The cops just allow you 5 mph over." Now somebody chooses to push that limit and they're going 7 mph over, then 10, then faster and faster. Now being ILLEGAL is not an occasional exception, it's THE RULE. Now doing things in defiance of those in authority is the standard that we operate under instead of recognizing the fact that laws were NOT made just to inconvenience folks. They were made for the purpose of protecting people from those who make bad choices. 

   

     Now, as for the "1 Gold Coin". Every deliberate act of choosing Right over Wrong equals 1 Gold Coin. You see, the truth is, every one of us has an unlimited stash of Gold Coins. We can pull out a Gold Coin any time we want simply by making a choice to do Right. Some choices seem like insignificant little "good deeds" in their importance and some are obviously monumental tasks but they all count. Some of us easily recognize the difference between Right and Wrong and smartly spend their Gold Coin on something that will reap a greater benefit than just some immediate self gratification. They think of it as something far too valuable to waste and they try to buy a better future for all. Some folks aren't as automatically capable of seeing the difference between Right and Wrong, but once it's pointed out to them, they too will have the ability to choose to spend their Gold Coins in a way that's good for everyone. If there seems to be several choices at one time, then we just have to try even harder to see as many of the possibilities of Right and Wrong as we can. That would require working together as a team so that everyones choices have been considered and no ONE person or group gets all the benefit and others get the shaft. 

     I know that some who read this will cheer or applaud this concept but you are the choir. Thank you for your support but your not the ones who need to be educated.  Some who read this will scoff and snarl something like "Oh shut up ya whiney do-gooder. You always have to take the fun out of everything." Well, I would say to you, "If the way that you choose to have fun causes someone else pain or grief, THEN YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! ". And some will read this analogy and say, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before". To you I say, "I believe life could be wonderful for everyone. Not just a select few. Treasure your choices. They are your future. They are your Gold Coins. Invest them wisely"!