Crystal Serenity-12/21/09
Miami (Disembarkation)
Another fabulous voyage on Crystal Serenity has come to an end. It’s hard to say goodbye; but exciting just knowing that (God willing) I will be back. In parting, I wanted to share with you some thought provoking information that appeared in the Reflections during this cruise. I would gladly give credit to whomever it was who penned this. Crystal did not supply the name of the author. I inquired; & was told that it was taken from the internet "by 'anonymous'". I pray that I am not breaking any copyright law by reproducing it (verbatim). The words & the meaning thereof, were just too powerful not to share:
EARTH’S VILLAGE
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following. There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north & south
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be People of Color
30 would be Caucasian
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world’s wealth & all would be from the US
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer
When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding & education becomes glaringly apparent.
The following is also something to ponder…..
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness….you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death….you are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead & a place to sleep….you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace….you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
If your parents are still alive & still married….you are very rare, even in the US & Canada.
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing; there are 2 billion people in the world that cannot read at all,
Someone once said: “What goes around, comes around.”
Let’s help each other appreciate our world & those who dwell in it, so that our children can learn from us, & live in a peaceful world which bursts at the seams with acceptance, knowledge, compassion & kindness.
Author unknown
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