"Small world" is more than a ride in Disneyland nowadays - it's a fact of life. With the advent of cellular phones, the internet, and reasonable airfares, the distance between people is shrinking fast.
I wonder if we can handle it.
As small as the world may become, for most of us, our World - the part of the planet and it's people we actually have a true emotional, personal investment in - has always been small. It has to be, as a survival mechanism. Everyday, somewhere out there in the world-at-large - an injustice is occurring, a tragedy transpiring. While knowledge of such fact, gleaned from the news or word of mouth, may pull at our heartstrings, compel a few tears - it is only that which occurs within our World that truly moves us to action.
Our family, loved ones, close friends, maybe even those directly in front of our eyes (if we are raised right) - around these we draw the line, the boundary. That which transpires outside it may inspire sympathy - but should that line be transgressed, we will act - quickly, decisively.
When the injustices of the world-at-large are brought so easily within our knowledge, so tantalizingly within our reach - how will we deal with it? Will our World constrict all the more... or will it embrace all that it can within its boundaries...
And when that happens, when even distant acts of cruelty and indignity are felt to be personal... How long must we wait before we take arms against it?
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