This is the world as we know it

A few weeks ago, while playing with my kids in our backyard, I watched as they joyfully picked the wildflowers blooming by the creek which runs behind our back fence. My five year old son was blissfully tossing stones into the water when our afternoon interlude was interrupted by the screams of my two year old son. He ran to me, his little finger swelling up like a Vienna sausage. He had been stung by his first wasp, while trying to catch the poor thing. As the tears streamed down his little face, he looked at me and cried out: WHY! As I wiped the tears from his face and kissed his boo-boo, I did my best to explain to him how such a horrible thing could have happened. In a few moments he was back running and playing, stopping now and then to look in amazement at his swollen finger.

This moment stayed with me. I realized that this is one (albeit minor) of a long line of "tragic" events which are likely occur in my son's precious life. Someday, he'll have to deal with the loss of a loved one, the end of a dear relationship, and the daily barrage of "bad news" which streams across television screens nationwide. In a society where there seems so much chaos and turmoil, it's easy to become cynical. We learn from the adults in our lives that there is so much to fear. Don't talk to strangers, don't trust the government, don't count on anyone but yourself.

All too soon we grow up and our focus shifts from the joy of discovery to a daily struggle of personal survival. As we try to make end meet, reconcile our checkbooks and balance our personal and professional lives, our primary communication with those we love increasingly comes through Facebook, text messaging and Twitter. We stop watching sunsets (except for the infrequent family vacation), we don't lie in the grass watching the clouds drift by, and we rarely take in the wonder of an evening thunderstorm (except to check for water damage). With all the technology available to make our lives easier, we are busier than ever.

As the Fourth of July nears, I think back to my own childhood, playing baseball with my neighborhood friends from sun up to sun down. We were the lucky ones, I guess. Most of our parents held good jobs and were happily married (my parents have been together since high school). We didn't have to worry about being abducted, or being the victims of random violence (at least we didn't know we should be worried about those things). Now as I drive past the nearly empty parks and ball fields, I wonder what has happened to childhood. Is the world such a horrible place that we need to keep our kids locked up in the house (I know, TV and video games), safe and protected from the evil world outside.

Is the world really a more dangerous place, or is it simply our perception of the world? I for one will choose to believe that people are still basically good, that the world is still a basically safe place and that the risk of a wasp sting is a small price to pay for the enjoyment of a beautiful summer. Thankfully, my children still feel that way too!