I think I'll rant for a little bit, okay?

[Perndog]

Ok, I'll check out the video when I'm at home tonight.

[mburbank]

You are not alone in your anger or feelings of hopelessness, although you may well be in the minority. Still, here's what I have to offer. Simple stuff I think about when I feel overwhelmed.

You are alive. You are experiencing life, and I think that this is as close to an absolute good as there is, and mostly I don't believe in absolute goods.

The fact that it often hurts, maybe more often than not, doesn't change this. As far as we know during life, it's all there is. We will each stop experiencing it in a relatively short period of time, so pay attention.

You will decide what to do with your life.

On the global scale, it will make almost no difference if you throw back one star fish, or one million, or none, or stomp on six and eat ten. You are one member of a vast heard species.

How you decide to deal or not deal with the starfish during your brief span on earth is what you will do with your life, the very center of your experience.

Of all of that I'm fairly certain. Now I'll tell you what I guess. Your experience is a tiny sliver of God's sensory aparatus. It is how it observes itself. For your one tiny part, what do you want from God? How many starfish would you like God to experience throwing back?

At this point in my life, I desire a God that experiences laughter and loves my daughters. I want this particularly as I believe Gods time to see through peoples eyes, compared to say, whatever it means to be a planet or a star is very, very brief. My personal time as part of Gods sensory aparatus is almost non existant.

Sometimes I wish I was more drawn to getting God to pay more attention to starfish, because honestly, I think God ought to be all about starfish. But I am who I am at this moment, and without me, God would never read my jokes or see my daughters through my eyes.

God has many experiments going besides us, before, after and at the same time. decide what to do with your piece of this one, and then decide again, and then again, until you die.

Oh, and lots of times? I get too angry or bored or I have a headache or something I like is on TV or I want a candybar and I forget to think like this. But God probably needs to experience anger and candybars too.

[Jeanette X]

That's deep, Max, it really is.

Seth: I often feel the same way. I too, want to blow up the moon so there won't be any more tides. But one person can't save the world, its too big a job for one person. But we can make a difference. You may not be able to run for office, but there are jobs out there that pay decently and help heal the world.

Sure, there are plently of people who don't give a shit. But there are plently who really, really do, and you aren't the only one, although it may seem that way. The important thing is to let yourself burn out and give into apathy. EVER.

Maybe I'm a naive young idealist. I probably am. So what? I'm still going to stand there chucking starfish, even if other people laugh at me while they surf.

[Grislygus]

I didn't read any of the responses, don't intend to put in any worthwhile philosophical dialogue.

However, I just wanted you to know that at least one person out there immediately got the Bad Religion reference.