I park next to dead people

Every morning I park about 20 ft away from a dead person. I don't mind parking next to dead people, in fact I love my parking spot! It's just that I park next to dead people....dead people....they are dead....therefore they probably don't really care to much about what I do with my gas guzzling truck.

I sat in my truck this morning and realized that I have been parking 20 ft away from this memorial to an individual and I don't even know their name. Somehow this individual lived on this earth and shaped other people's lives, had dinner conversations, maybe raised children, maybe gave birth to children, went to work, changed jobs, maybe he/she was happy, maybe he/she was sad, walked to work, drove to work, got angry, maybe had a surprise birthday party, rode a horse, hated horses, took medication, loved pizza, hated pizza........this person lived.
I sat in my truck and realized that I was living right now. At that very moment I was living and that someday there might be a youth minister who parks his gas guzzling truck about 20 ft. from my engraved rock and wonders who I was. The selfish part of me says that I better get out there and become so important that everyone wants to come visit my rock. That they should be charging admission to my memorial, that my rock better have profound statements of greatness, maybe an eternal flame or two, in fact I better be so great that the very cemetary that I am buried in should be named after the great Todd Tribble!!

Whew...I better get started....

We live in this world that seems to tell everyone that if your name isn't in lights then you are no good. We live in a world that tells teenagers that they better be #1 all of the time, every time. We live in a world that if I am not making a lot of money......I am lower than my counterpart who does. You know what? That is complete and utter BS. I really mean that. Every day I encounter people who are great parents, hard workers, providers, believers. I work with teenagers who have conviction, heart, pride and a sense of good. Are they not worth as much since a TV show hasn't decided to play out their life on a reality series? Are the hard working parents lower in society since they sacrifice money for the well being of their children? Is the college student who studies to better herself less of an individual than the pop princess who is a one hit wonder? Is the teenager who struggles each day to just make it to the next less of a person than the young adult who is given a silver spoon from birth? Is the person who is buried in a cemetary in Florence, KY any less of an individual then that of a supposedly great person that needs an armed guard at their grave?

We are all created equal in God's eyes.....and therefore the answer to that question is....no.

I park next to a dead person. His name is Ezra Aylor and he died in 1929.

Thank you Ezra....