Intertwined Anomalies

Today, as I walked to the store surrounded by such diverse elements in such a minute amount of space, I was struck by the numerous incongruous yet intertwined anomalies of my everyday life. I saw a hummingbird as I passed by the man lying in filthy clothes by the dentist's office. I saw three off-white butterflies clustered around the bushes of the sterile apartment complex as children ran around in the yard of the run down house across the way. I saw gifts left by the dogs of inconsiderate neighbors next to the shiny cars on the street. I heard the beautiful music through the door of the Indian shop and the awful news of Colorado from various televisions, blaring through the open windows of the surrounding buildings. How is it that all of these elements coexist? How can such tiny spots of beauty be marred by ever increasing amounts of  neglect, filth and violence?

Most of us try to do our part to keep the world clean or make it a better place and yet why does it seem that more and more there are less of us doing exactly that? Wild animals are losing their habitats and lives because of us. Civilized individuals are turning out to be less civil than we thought. A lack of respect for ourselves and others seems to be running rampant. A world where we are seemingly more comfortable with all things violent and no things naked seems be where we reside. Why? How is it that the children I teach will tell me  about video games,  movies and toys that destroy but make faces, flinch and say "Ewww" if they glimpse a picture of a naked body? How did we get here? Is this going to get better or worse? When will it begin to change? Who knows.