Awareness...

...is quite possibly the key to everything. Those who are best at what they do--be they doctors, athletes, teachers, or what have you--are often those who are most aware of the present needs and constant variations of their surroundings. The Enlightenment period pushed the concept of awareness to new heights. We entered the Age of Reason. Our common sense and ability to logically process data created a profound sense of self-awareness in our society.

And self-awareness is a very good thing--for the most part. We need to constantly evaluate ourselves, being aware of those tendencies that pull us off-course. A problem arises, however, when self-awareness becomes self-obsession. Sadly, this is often the case. We become consumed with what we think. We cannot see beyond how certain situations affect us. Through reason, sound thinking, and trained ability, we can push through any difficulty and accomplish anything.

Of course, obsession borders on worship. You worship that which you spend the most time focusing on. So, in many ways, humanity worships itself. We are the be-all and the end-all. Thus, our object of worship becomes the Nobel Prize-winning scientist, the Olympic athlete, the suave politician, or the heroic rescuer.

But if the obsession really is with humanity in general, then the object of worship is also the child abuser, the rapist, the serial killer, the man who lies for a living, the woman who cheats on her husband, and the hit-and-run driver. That, my friends, is one schizophrenic object of worship.

Ah, humanity. We are so aware of ourselves, our own needs, and our own surroundings. Yet many of us are aware of little else. We run and scurry, fuss and hurry over a measly little life that lasts just over seventy years. And the eternal things? No need to be aware of those, because we couldn't have invented them...