I’m going to start a new feature here on CTGN. I’ve been a fan of Sunday Scribblings for a long time. It’s a simple website that provides a prompt each Saturday to write about on Sunday. It’s whatever you make of it & I’m going to start participating as a way to spend more time in a creative and reflective activity. I think it offers a good opportunity to write on a more significant level than I currently do, it is an opportunity to ruminate and contemplate a little deeper in our fast paced world and a chance to share on my blog the deeper thoughts and personal convictions I have about life. I’ll try my best to get it done on Sunday, to commit to 5 minutes of reflection and a quick 5 minutes of writing- whatever comes to mind, whatever I’m worried about or interested in, whatever tugs on my heart that week in my life. The may be cohesive and coherent, but likely not. I intend to just write free-form about whatever is pops into my mind about the weekly prompt and what it means to me in a few rambling thoughts that I can piece together. I invite others to join & spend a few minutes a week engaged in creative writing and deep thinking. I’ll Google the word & screen grab all the images that show up for that word.
Treatment
My initial thoughts are towards drug and addiction treatment. After watching The Wire and The Corner, I’m ashamed that we spend tens of billions on the incarcerating so many people in our society and yet fail to offer detox and addiction treatment facilities for those who want to escape the horrible nightmare of meth or crack or prescription pain killer addictions. I’m increasingly outraged by the mega-industry that is the for-profit segment of locking people away and what a huge percentage of our population that is ensnared in our tragic and unjust prison system.
Treatment as a remedy or cure or improvement. I’m constantly fascinated with our medical establishment and their treatment of an ever increasingly sick society- from physical to psychological ailments. There is a treatment for every malady or ailment. There are simply cosmetic treatments that come from spas and pseudo-medical clinics such as botox and facials. I admit to getting my monthly treatment of a massage to distress and relax the muscles of my high-strung body. I don’ t know that I’d have the courage or will to go through a cancer treatment if I ever faced such a horrible decision.
My final and most difficult aspect of treatments to address is the interactions of people. Perhaps I’m getting old, perhaps I’m getting crankier, and perhaps the world is really getting smaller and faster. I’m daily shocked by the treatment of some people towards other people. On a personal level at work, driving in traffic, shopping at stores or eating at a restaurant. I’m deeply saddened by the lack of love and empathy shown to “others”, be they others in your neighborhood or around the world. Why do so many people find it acceptable to treat Muslims or immigrants or gay people with such disdain? How can that treatment be reflective of the title that so many people claim- “Christian”?
