Think very hard about your choices

I met a man once when I was 11 or 12 years old. He started out as an airline pilot and ended up rich and living in a mansion but now lives in orbit with his wife.

He had a vision of the universe, the world and of man. He saw a time where we could all live together, seeking what pleased each individual and where each individual could contribute what they were good at doing. It didn’t matter what you looked like, sounded like or what place you were from.

I look at what is happening today, where the basis for our problems are simply greed, and wonder how we can possible progress to those times that he envisioned. Although he did relate that we teetered on the precipice, he felt we were capable of progressing through that period.

I introduce you to my cousin, a man named Gene Roddenberry. A man who had made it but chose instead to proliferate a vision of the universe that showed man not only surviving but leaping beyond his failings.

If we continue on this path of greed we will surely destroy ourselves and any hope of survival. Strip away the skin and we are exactly the same. Whether you believe in a God or not it is all the same, free will. Think hard about your choices.

KIRK DeHAAN

Elmira