Escaping Vanity

Those thoughtful people who take it easy on us. Cutting a break on homework. Being let out of a speeding ticket. Severing a relationship in the style of an amputated limb. Awful events take place around us too. The reason each thing happens may not be a good one. Something only the living can debate. A special dessert because it’s your birthday. Coupons redeemed so you’ll save and hopefully return. Systems to make your reward present on a receipt. However, there are malicious versions where items make their way to you. Undocumented changes betraying trust. Breakdowns that soften the structure. Perhaps grades that are boosted, even manufactured, to assist with athletic standards. The stricter past a faded memory, where breaks meant extra work for bonus credit. Extend the grading scale to push more folks through. The pursuit of excellence sliding away like an old glacier melting into the sea. Together we suffer as discipline is lost. Passively accepting the falter...

How many chances are you willing to give? What number do you count from for patience? How many days since a workplace accident? H ow many more miles to go?        What are the odds? The laws of average. Perhaps your existence is validated by statistics. Vitals recorded by digits. Complex equations giving you chances of survival. Is this how you’ll be remembered in discussions? Maybe in the many lines of code. The ones that record you digitally. Independent of your humanity are records. Numeric categories taking many forms. There are other questions… of sexual history. Brothers in arms who hold sacred counts measuring their service. Unofficial records dear to our faith. Identification assigned so that you can be counted.  Birthdays. Anniversaries. Milestones. How far back does the family history go? Rating surveys by number.  Children’s scholastics we take great pride in. So many ways to give praise. Lower ones communicating the a...