Under the Sea

The other afternoon I went to my granddaughter’s first grade singing concert named “Under the Sea.” In this world of madness, chaos and indifference, I still have faith in our future.

To watch the joy and concentration on the faces of 30 six- and seven-year-olds while they make swimming arm gestures and sing songs like “Baby Shark” and “Yellow Submarine,” I truly believe there is hope for mankind in general and friends and family in particular.

All colors, all sizes, all levels of interest, these kids represented the best in all of us. I could see future singers, actresses, doctors, and engineers in the sing songy off-key voices.

I have to laugh, because the other day I was watching The Story Channel and they were talking about ancient Egyptians preparing for the after life. They had ideas and hieroglyphics and even directions on how to move into an eternal world of warmth and peace and love.

They believed in tomorrow — a tomorrow that didn’t include depression, apathy, and CPAP machines.

So did the children singing in front of me.

I enjoyed the fact that, for practical purposes, those kids and I had a lot in common. We still  have much to learn, we have faith in others, and we believe all will turn out well in the end. We all do our best to  ignore the brutes and big mouths and troublemakers and make it a point to enjoy life. 

And, like the Egyptians, we both believe in tomorrow.

Maybe one of those glow-in-the-dark fish or starfish in today’s picture is me. Glowing in the dark, behind held firmly by the next generation.

There’s a lot of fish and starfish glowing in the picture — maybe you’re one too.