More Snow

This weekend the UK is covered in yet another blanket of snow.  In the south, where I live, it’s not been too bad but the people in the north of England are really suffering.  At least one person has lost their life and thousands of homes are without power.  Many roads are impassable and many villages cut-off and running low on food.  By day the snow is starting to melt, but the icy temperatures at night cause wide-spread freezing and the roads will be treacherous during the rush-hour on Monday morning.  Of course, when the thaw starts in earnest we’ll endure lots of flooding.

Now I am well aware that this kind of weather is fairly run-of-the-mill in other countries, but here in the UK we are just not equipped to deal with it.  Any kind of adverse weather and the country grinds to a halt.

What does happen, though, is that in adversity people tend to stick together.  They share, take strangers into their homes, provide comfort and help to ease the suffering of their fellow man.  Not everyone is like this of course – there will always be the minority who are out for themselves, but thankfully they do tend to be the minority.  Random acts of kindness are being carried out all over the country at the moment.

But it does make me wonder why it takes adverse conditions and natural disasters to bring out the humanity in people.  What is so difficult about helping others every day of our lives?  We only have to open our eyes to see those worse off than ourselves, whether in our own countries or elsewhere in the world.  We are all one, all from the same source, living in the same world and in the same universe.  Life doesn’t have to be this tough – we can reach out through love and kindness and help make everyone’s life a little easier.

When will people wake up?