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Firecrackers in the Night

The New Year explodes around us.

India is shellshocked. A devastating earthquake leaves over 20,000 dead, many more homeless, and billions of dollars in damages. Groups of desperate bandits there attack stunned survivors, robbing them of their last, meager possessions, while religious groups charged with humanitarian assistance fight amongst themselves.

California grows cold and dark. The lights go out, one by one, as our spiraling energy crisis threatens to drag the rest of the global economy with us into the darkness. Finger-pointing alternates with shoulder-shirking as public utilities and private individuals teeter on the brink of financial catastrophe. Even global warming won’t help us now.

San Francisco continues to burn. Community members light each other’s businesses on fire, and community leaders fire each other.

America is a time bomb. Lingering resentment from the hotly contested US presidential election simmers just below the surface of pseudo-bi-partisanship and compassionate subjectivism. Recounting ballots, recanting officials, and extinguishing fortunes leave us protesting, cynical and waiting for the next bush to catch on fire. A dark cloud hangs over Washington’s rainbow cabinet.

Remember the “thousand points of light”? Can we still see the light at the end of the tunnel? Can we still feel the divine spark that burns within each and every one of us? Stoke it.

Use it to light our firecrackers this New Year. Use it to light up our lives and warm our souls. Illuminate our common purpose. Blow our minds and ignite our instinct to survive. Fight fire with fire. Explode with joy, and remember that energy —terrestrial force, electrical energy, political power — is never lost; it just changes form.