Good intentions

Awoke to overcast skys again today, about the sixth day in a row if memory is correct. It is not so bad, though a few more splashes of sun would be nice to give the world some warmth and color. Somewhere on the Earth the sun is shining today; of that we can probably be sure. Perhaps it does so in Europe.

A television program called House played an episode yesterday about a doctor who goes to Africa to help people with TB, that is Tuberculosis. The doctor was very much an advocate for getting drug companies to donate additional medicines necessary to treat TB in Africa. In the episode, the man contracted TB himself, but also had one of those mini-tumors that you only hear about on television programs of this ilk. What struck me about the program, however, was the conflict between Dr. House and this other fellow on the issue of saving lives.

The conflict was bizarre to me, but it is probable I do not pick up on such conflicts so easily. Something bothered the Dr. House about this other doctor's practice (aside from the insistence that the sick doctor take part in the diagnosing process along with the hospital staff). Toward the end of the episode, the sick doctor said something to the effect of "I save thousands of lives every year, but I know millions still die in spite of my efforts. But I can still work given that. Perhaps you  [Dr. House] can't."

Certainly it is a curious problem. How does one go on when one's efforts seem futile? This doctor certainly helped a number of people in the episode, but he seemed also aware of how little he alone could accomplish. The extent of some problems are quite large in comparison to the abilities of single individuals. Yet the efforts of those individuals does make a difference for some folks. And perhaps that is a message we might draw from this little point of dialogue. There are many issues in our world today, but that does not mean we cannot do something to help the matter. A single, kindly smile could well change a person's heart for the better in a given moment, and an ethic of smiles may spread to improve the lives of other people. It is all very simple, but it can seem too simple to make a difference, but it does, or has at least for me. A kind word from a relative stranger a week ago continues to have a positive influence on me, even though I have not even seen the person since. Good intentions, sufficently simplified, can do much.