I often think about the earliest humans and marvel at the genius that prompted them to make tools, gaze at the heavens, create fires, experiment with cooking. I wonder who thought of roasting meat rather than gnawing on raw flesh. How did they concoct bread or make ovens? If left alone in the wilderness with nothing but my wits would I be as industrious and ingenious as our long ago ancestors were? How did they even understand that the pain in their stomachs meant it was time to eat? Do we just have natural instincts that lead us to behave in certain ways and then attempt to continually improve on the methods that we have developed?

It is fascinating to me that ancient civilizations were builders many of whose structures still stand to this very day. Why did humans decide to carve exquisite statues out of stone or paint on the walls of caves? How did they demystify the heavens and know how to keep track of time? 

The ascent of humankind is a marvel that confounds me with admiration. I suppose that there have always been geniuses who rise above their peers to invent and create. Somewhere along our long arc of history people learned how to use their voices in song and began to move their bodies in dance. They made instruments for cooking and playing music and for warring. They also understood the need for working together to achieve higher levels of civilization even as they were wary of outsiders who were not like them. 

So much has happened on this earth that it would take many lifetimes to become acquainted with the enormous history of the planet itself as well as the creatures and humans that have inhabited it. We study these things because in learning about the past we grow closer to understanding our natures and both the advances and mistakes that people have made. I am both in awe of human resilience and worried about our ever present tendencies to fall into the trap of violent behaviors in our efforts to protect ourselves. Somehow our modern ways of living make our time on this earth easier than it has ever been but we have also created horrors like bombs and guns that threaten us with far more destruction than history has ever seen. We have not evolved to a point of peaceful coexistence. We still lie awake at night like the cave dwellers of old worrying about the dangers that threaten us. 

Many humans in many eras have dreamed of a perfect world in which everyone gets along, resources are equitably shared, every person is honored and respected for the contributions that they are able to give. In such perfection we don’t equate the appearance of a person with measures that rank them. We simply cooperate for the good of all. 

Of course history has shown us that we have never been ready for the pipe dreams of eternal peace, love, and joy. Our anxieties tell us that a daily dose of unicorns and rainbows has never come to reality. Our human natures have yet to rise to perfection. Someone always ruins the idea with theft or violence or power plays that take advantage of goodness. For all the time we read about the wonders of humans there is also the specter of want, greed, war, destruction. 

I think about such things just as humans have no doubt done for eons. I like to believe that in most ways we have evolved to a point of being able to live together in relative peace, but the horrors of our footprints still abound. In spite of thousands of years of human genius attempting to show us the way to harmony we still have difficulty just getting along. 

Perhaps it is naive to think that it is possible to use our talents only for good when the evidence is so strong that we have to allow for the deviancies of our natures that spoil our best laid plans. Maybe it is in understanding our individual imperfections and working on them one person at a time that a happier more inviting world will emerge. I suppose that we have to admit that sometimes for whatever reason we will encounter people who are broken but they are the outliers, not the mean. 

Life has always been a struggle for humans. We have to first satisfy our needs for food and safety. We need places to sleep without fear at night. When those very basic necessities are not met, we become agitated and willing to follow either those who are optimistic and enlightened or those who stoke our fears and make us believe that fighting is the only guarantee of survival. The dichotomy of how we choose to face our challenges creates the tensions that have always existed for humans. 

I often find myself feeling very close to the vast array of people who came before me. They are a wonder to me but I also consider the future and how I might make the next days and years and centuries better for those yet to come. I take hope in knowing that even on the most intimate level we each make a difference in the lives of those around us. Perhaps the key to a better world comes in our own personal responsibilities for our families and neighbors and communities. If we can do good work for most of our days we have the cumulative power to move history forward in positive and inspiring ways. This we must do all the days of our lives. The long and winding road of history will continue on and we each have a part in determining which directions to take.