What the world needs now

I woke up this morning with a song in my head.
I know its strange but this often happens to me and I have to wonder what it was that I was dreaming about prior to waking to cause this phenomenon. I remember a lot of my dreams but there are many that I don’t.
However I digress….
This morning I woke up singing an old song from the ’70s that contains the following lines:

“What the world needs now, is love…. sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of”

and I thought “What has changed in the last 40 years”?
Of course there is much that has changed:

• We have phones we can carry in our pockets.
• Computers no  longer fill an entire room but can be held in our hands.
• We no longer have to wait by the mail box to hear from a friend overseas. It can be done in a matter of seconds through the wonders of the internet.
• Cars go faster than was ever dreamed possible and are designed with more curves and less angles.
• Man has been further than the moon.
• Money looks basically the same (with a few little tweaks here and there) but it doesn’t hold the same value that it used to.
• The world has become smaller as cheaper air fares enable easier travel.
• Cameras no longer need film and we are able to see our photos the second they have been taken.
• Political correctness has become a way of life.
• Books can be read on a screen as many eschew pages and binding.
• Our conversation is now peppered with acronyms.
• A person no longer has to leave their  home to earn a university degree or undertake learning.
• We can chat with someone 1000 miles away in real time and see their face whilst doing so.
• People are able to shop in the comfort of their own homes and can even purchase items that are not readily available in their own country and have them shipped right to their door.
• We no longer have to wait in a queue at the bank to conduct financial transactions
• News stories from around the world are delivered to a computer screen almost as they happen.
• Policing has gone beyond finger printing and now identifies people through their genetic makeup (or DNA)
• We no longer need a map to work out where we are when lost. We can just pull out our phone and it will tell us exactly where we are and where we need to go.
• Electricity is no longer created solely through the burning of coal but harnesses the power of both water and air.
• We no longer need to carry money in our purse or wallets. There are little pieces of plastic that pay for things.
• We no longer spend hours in the sun working on our tans because we have learned that this can cause cancer (although there is still no cure for that disease).

And this list is by no means exhaustive.

Although much as changed in the world since I was a girl (and much of it has been for the better) so much has stayed the same or in fact deteriorated.
Wars are still a fact of life.
Hate is still alive.
Murder, rape, paedophilia, sex crimes, child exploitation, slavery, incest, abuse and loss of innocence are still rampant in society today. The mere fact that I am able to list these things is testament to that very statement.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say “What is mental illness” or “What is terrorism”?
But I am unable to do that.
Unfortunately I am able to write these words because I am aware of these things and that is so terribly sad.
I was born into the world innocent and untouched by any kind of negative thing. I was nurtured and loved by those around me.
And then as I grew the cocoon that had protected me was ripped away piece by piece and I could see the world for what it has become and realised that not everyone knows love.

Here we are 40 years after a singer and songwriter brought to our attention an appalling lack of love in the world the knowledge that there is still a huge black hole sucking that love away.

Every individual was born with the capacity for kindness, empathy, gratitude and love.
Every.  single.  person.
So what has happened for them to lose this ability?
What is the answer to the sadness?
What is the answer to achieving peace amid the turmoil that is unfolding?

It is love.

Pure and simple.

And the world needs it right now.

It only needs to start with one or two people.

And I am only one….