Monday, October 16, 2006

Back in the Saddle

After a few weeks of Doctor required rest, I moved from an indoor stationary bike out onto concrete. I road the 62 mile Denton Power Rally ride on Saturday in about four and 1/2 hours. It was a great feeling to be back again.

I have thought many, many times that I was lucky to have escaped my crash with as few injuries as I did. A broken wrist that required only 6 weeks in a splint and no surgery. A separated shoulder that just needed three - six months of recovery time. I am very blessed.

Why is it that some of the craziest people escape injury and others stumble into it in a fluke? Why is it that some children are born in safe loving environments and others are born addicted to Crack cocaine? What separates triumph from tragedy, disease from health, and hardship and luxury is not much.

Perhaps you've seen the children's book "If the World Were a Villiage" by David J. Smith or the studies by various people. It is eye opening when one considers the world if it contained only 100 people.

52 are female 48 are male

70 non-whites and 30 whites

70 non-Christians and 30 Christians

6 persons possess 59 % of the world’s wealth

50 of the village inhabitants live on 2 dollars a day and 25 live on 1 dollar a day

50 persons suffer from malnutrition

70 persons are illiterate

80 persons live in poor-quality housing

20 inhabitants control 86 % of the GNP and 74 % of the telephone lines

11 persons have a car

1 person(yes, only 1) has a college education
This is pretty eye opening . . . heart wrenching . . . sad for those of us privileged 1%. I suppose that no matter how large this world may be (billions upon billions of people) this earth is still a village. The ratios of privilege do not change when we consider the millions of Americans around us that we think of as normal.

Check that . . . we are abnormally blessed. What are you doing with it?

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