Striking Singular Wonderful Strange

One of those unanswerable and ever-controversial arguments you are likely to enounter when hanging around counselors, psychologists, or social workers is ye old nature vs. nuture debate. I had already been thinking about it this week, as we had been discussing the nature and genesis of evil in internship class.

I tend to think it's all a rather holistic and systemic affair - an intricate swirling dance of elements, contexts, and circumstances that blend together in an unrepeatable way to create a complex and variegated human being.

Then again, every once in a while you hear a story that makes you pause and question whether you're on the correct side of the proverbial and philosophical fence. Today's story, for me, was about Daniel Hope, a classical violinist (my age) whose musical journeys remind me of my brother's passions (that of blending musical cultures together).

Here is this insanely talented musician... who was raised around a violinist from infancy to age 7 because his mother was the administrative assistant to a world-class violinist and so he was surrounded by classical, violin music throughout his childhood. What is fascinating when you add in the fate vs. destiny vs. free will argument is how his mother ended up in that job (read here).

It's a funny thing to look back on one's life and wonder at the infinite number of things that lined up just so to bring us to where we are in the present moment. Some may see pointlessness, some may see order... other chaos, protection, purpose, or true randomness.

Whatever you may see, perhaps it helps to keep such things in mind with each new face you look into. For that person - that life - has just as many beautiful and chaotic complexities as your own. And there is something beautifully paradoxical in that unique commonality we share.

Searching for...

There was a plane crash in a parking lot in Massachusetts today... a cancer patient and his wife being flown by a pilot to a medical facility for specialized treatment - all as part of a charity service that helps people in need of medical assistance for life-threatening illnesses get from one place to another so they can utilize services that might save their lives.

All three died. Onlookers saw the plane in flames, saw there were people inside, but were unable to do anything to help without getting terribly injured.

The lucky part is no one else was injured when the plane hit the ground. But it is still a tragedy for the people involved, as well as their friends and family, who must be feeling a terrible sense of unfairness or karmic injustice with one question echoing: Why?

There are many theories for why such things happen, some religious, some spiritual, some total stabs in the dark - all our best guesses... because we really just don't know. We struggle to make sense of the nonsensical... to see patterns out of chaos... to feel we can interpret symbols and eke out some form of truth so that ultimately we feel less alone, less scared, and more safe.

However you may understand such things, perhaps there is a way to take in the event and honor the people who were lost. Maybe it's a moment of gratitude for your safety and comfort. Maybe it's lighting a candle or saying a prayer for the plane's occupants and their loved ones. Maybe it's taking a moment to reflect on what you fear, what you value, or what you believe.

Or maybe you can feel that uncomfortable ache wherein the world seems to simply not make any sense... and still manage to embrace hope on the other side.