So I watched this really cool documentary last night called "2012."  For those of you who don't know, it's about the end of the world.  More specifically [SPOILER] it's about how the sun starts shooting off these "neutrinos" (which I think are included in most cereals that are part of This Complete Breakfast), and how those neutrinos basically boil the center of the earth (who knew... the center of the earth is HOT!!).  So because of all this hot boiling steamy ick (neutrinos), the crust of the earth peels away and shifts.  L.A. falls into the ocean.  Hawaii turns into a volcano.  I mean, even more than it already is.  Other scary things also happen, like a guy eating a pickle the size of a horse's leg and also Woody Harrelson is in it.

 

Now some of you (and I don't mean to be mean, but I'm going to call you "the dumb ones" - it's just a time saver, don't take it personally) are going to be all like "Wait, the world hasn't slid all to pieces," or like "Whoa, I LIVE in L.A., man," or even like, "There's no such thing as a pickle the size of a horse's leg."

 

Some of you may even deny that Woody Harrelson exists.  I may have to give you that one.  He may be CGI.

 

But as to the rest of that, you're MISSING THE POINT!  The world IS ending.  I know because I listen to the radio every day.  Consider:

 

1)   The Prius - basically a laptop strapped to a rollerskate with seats bolted in - has recently been discovered to have (drum roll)... possible electronic issues!  The first time in recorded history that a laptop has crashed (even though this one didn't actually crash, just sort of ended up gliding to a fairly gentle stop).

 

2)   The Democrats and the Republicans - people who are there to SERVE THE PEOPLE - have recently started bickering about things.  At least, that's what I've heard on the grapevine.  But you can't believe everything you read on the internet or see on all the major news outlets, so I'll put that in the "possible fact/fiction" category with Woody.

 

3)   Greece is broke, which could lead to the possible destabilization of the entire European economic system.  Or at least could lessen the number of cool movies about how those crazy Greeks get married to us whitebread Americans and it all comes out right in the end with a little bit of compromise and a lot of love.

 

4)   My finger is cramping.

 

If these are not signs of the end of time, WHAT IS?

 

There are SOME rays of hope.  Like the fact that my wife still hasn't left me (though that's probably more because of the chains and duct tape than anything else).  Or the fact that chocolate has been scientifically proven to cause weight loss.

 

...

 

WHAT?

 

Oh, great, now I'm down to a single ray.

 

But wait... here's another one.  Heard a story.  Could be true (like my finger is cramping), could be false (like horse-leg pickles).  But I'd like to think it's true.

 

Haiti was hit by an earthquake.  Thousands upon thousands dead.  Thousands upon thousands orphaned.  Thousands upon thousands living in vast tent cities and hoping not to starve to death or die of the diseases that crop up whenever such conditions occur.

 

One night, a boy - not more than 16 years old - stands by a fire.  He starts to sing.  Not well, he's not a professional, he can barely read or write.  But he sings.

 

Soon another boy comes to stand with him at the fire.  And sings.

 

Then another.  And another.

 

None of them are older than 16.

 

Four boys.  Three of them know they are orphans, the fourth has heard his family may be alive somewhere, but in a tent city without any form of communication, he is powerless to find them.

 

They have nothing in common, other than this moment of song.  They are boys without reason to hope, without reason to care, without reason to live.

 

But they find song in the camp, and solace in the song, and friendship in the solace.

 

There is now a family.  When one boy finds food or water, he shares it equally with his new brothers.  When one boy hears news, he tells it first to his new family.

 

They all crave adoption.  Someone to take care of them.  Who wouldn't?  Even an adult would want help and care in their position.

 

But until it arrives, these boys take care of each other.

 

I was a 16 year old boy once.  I remember the time with mixed memories.  I remember feeling out of control, feeling like I was on a roller coaster a lot of the time.  I remember being selfish, preoccupied with the goings-on of my own feelings and thoughts and bodily desires.  I suspect most 16 year old boys have similar experiences and memories.

 

But these boys.  These boys in a place that has been destroyed... they have become men.  Perhaps they will be lucky enough to find new families that will provide a haven for them and will allow them to be boys again.  But now, when needed, they have become what is necessary to survive.  And it is not animalistic selfishness.

 

It is altruism.  It is community.  It is love and honesty and peace and hope.

 

The world is at the brink.  In so many ways, we are at the brink.  In so many ways, we peer over a precipice.

 

And in so many ways on so many days, I must think...

 

If only we could all be these boys.

 

Sharing.

 

Caring.

 

Nothing in common, perhaps, other than shared space and... if we are very lucky, some music in our hearts.

 

But still knowing that that is enough to make a family.