Fireflies

    To fly like a particle in the vast space of the universe, what existence is that? To move in the surreal fabric of time and eternity, what purpose would it serve? To glow in the vast realm of darkness, what kind of life would that be?

    What kind of existence would this be?

    In the interweaving of pluralities and idiosyncrasies, there is a united doubt as to what is what and why. The truth, the ideals, both words have blurred due to cultural diffusion and social revolutions. And the philosophers are bothered.

    From a worm's-eye view the entropic problems are massive and overwhelming. Societal deconstruction and behavioral liberation create a pandemic wave of dissatisfaction and genuine poverty. Sociologists are alarmed.

    Parallel histories have drawn up cyclic motions of distress and catastrophe. Even the physical world is crumbling down into a runaway reaction mechanism of climate instability, biological decline and resource scarcity. Scientists shake their heads.

    What, then, would this pathetic chain of events lead to? The downward spiral seems to lead to absolute despair, towards the bottomless abyss coined “hell”. The “End of the World”, isn't it? Or perhaps the end of this world, out of the many worlds that has so far been imagined? What is the answer? What definitely was the question? Why?

    The firefly flew out of its hiding place. It is night, and it is time. It flashes out its signal, it send bursts of yellowish green light while whirling in characteristic flight. Where would the other be? The insect dances, not knowing any better, as if the whole world is watching its majestic performance. The dance of nature.

    Indeed it has an audience, but it is a man whose gaze is blank and empty. As he sees the faint glowing thing, he is amused. Bio-luminescence, the conversion of chemical energy into light with the smallest amount of heat! Cold light, spectacular biological process, the audience stares at the fleeting streaks of green glow. Yet he sees it from a distance, his appreciation fading into the dark nothingness. He is somber once more.

    Yet, as if acting on cue, the firefly went nearer to him. It danced, it swayed, it went closer. Its light got brighter, and its dance seemed more slow and deliberate. And then, as if caught in the alien trance, he extends his arms and opens his palm. The insect drew closer, then landed in his finger.

    The light! In his finger!

    He was frozen, looking in disbelief at the little creature that rests in his hands. What had brought it to him? Was it tired of flying, or is it part of the drama? The insect wriggled, but to his amazement it did not fly away. It was just there, glowing on and off like a living Christmas light.

    And he marveled at its beauty.

    Yes, it is the problem of globalization that contrasting cultures are bashing each other. Racism, discrimination, exchange of insults between two groups who claim that one is a falsity of the other, all these things trouble everyone. Who should we follow? To whom should we believe? Yet to determine which is right or which is wrong does not matter in the end; it is to appreciate the goodness in each, and the diversity of the whole that is essential.

    Many people are suffering the pains of the world, and yet there also exists those who have been given much. This does not mean, however, that the current world is simply unfair and the society is to be abolished. In perspective each individual has been given the same, it is a matter of seeing what one has in abundance. And what one is in excess and the other in need, one gives. Thus the value interdependence arises, and what is important is not that differences should be abolished but the inner selfishness.

    The Earth is a large entity, yet it should be known that it is finite. It is a self-operating machine that acts in accordance to the laws of matter and physical existence, and what is put upon it the Earth simply responds in return. For centuries man fought its way against nature to survive, yet it has now reached a point that he should fight his own creations for survival; and at times man fights man for personal gains. Therefore how can man survive? He should first restore himself. If man finally understands why he must act, he would stop thinking of himself. And if he did, he would be able to cooperate with others. And once he understands his own machinations he gains insight as to the workings of nature itself,  to which he is part of. And thus he can restore the Earth at last.

    And how is all these possible?

    Because man hopes.

    The man was still gazing when he sensed that the insect was about to go. He looked at it more closely, as if seeping the light into himself. But he realized that it wasn't needed at all, that he was just reminded of a fact he knew all along. And as, at last, the firefly flew out, the man stares, marveling at how the tiny being can dissolve the darkness, his darkness.