Mass Individuality

Over 6 billion people inhabit the earth. With that kind of number how does an individual expect to count? The sociologists, the newsmakers and the politicians frequently speak about "averages" when giving any stats about people. Individuality is lost—the mass is important.

Then, contrary to all the above, individuals count for a lot. Each person is significant. Think, for instance, about a person's death. Stats indicate that……..people die annually (daily?)

Eg: Think of the thousands in the military, yet each individual killed rates a special mention and a service of honour.

What happens to people when a "mass" grave is used to clear away the bodies from some horrible battle? This is not normal—does some moral fiber disappear when people do not take or find the time to remember the dead individually?

Think also of the significance of "unknowns", people who seem to be of no importance or who may think of themselves as completely insignificant. Take for instance (see Wpg Free Press, Tuesday, July 17, 2007) the front page and page 3 story about a woman, Aynsley Aurora Kinch, who was found murdered. Who was she—someone who had little self-esteem, but someone who gained 2 pages of daily news coverage. Now none can say she did not count!

With the billions in our world, "masses" are common. Yet, whenever one of those masses dies, time stands still as many eyes shift towards that one and remember the life just ended. Each person merits the focus of others; a life is significant, not just a statistic. I recently attended a funeral of someone who will not be listed in the Who's Who of America, nor honoured by the powers that be in our country. Yet, this same person merited a church full of friends and family. The world stood still as the community remembered.