Limited Shelf Life

There is a prevailing ethic in America today that's driven by a number of illogical fallacies.  I think the most obvious fallacy that people buy into is the idea of the eternal present; the past and the future are bound to, and created by, the present (which is only a half-truth), but if you see Alan Watts tweets pop up in your Twitter feed, the half-truth gets distorted into something that sounds nice and quotable, but just can't exist in reality, eg. "For in truth neither past nor future have any existence apart from this Now; by themselves they are illusions."  Any human being who has ever suffered, experienced trauma, or the death of a loved one has the existential knowledge to see how ignorant this line of thinking is, and how completely self-centered it is.  Billions of human beings have had an entire existence prior to "this Now."  But are they illusory?  More than likely there have been people who have come into and out of existence without making a blip on the radar, but they still existed.  They still felt pain and love, struggle and satisfaction.  They breathed the air, ate food, slept and dreamed.  Whether or not their existence had any impact on "this Now" or your particular "Now" doesn't mean they were illusions.  

This same truth applies to any other human being that currently inhabits this earth outside of your being.  They may never know you exist, and visa-versa, but neither of you are illusory, only finite.  There's a limit to what you can do (physically, mentally, logistically, financially, etc.) and there's a limit to your lifespan.  We all have a limited shelf life, but that does not mean we are consumables.

We are also not supporting characters in YOUR story, here for a chapter or two to help you with your self-actualization and then discarded like a coffee cup once we've fulfilled our purpose in your narrative.  The world is so much bigger, and time so much longer, than any single individual's perception of their "eternal present," and this is how it will always be.  Pull back and widen the focus of your camera lens and you'll discover that you are no more special or important than every human being who has come before you, or those who will appear after you, but (depending on your world-view) you are a member of THE most important beings on the planet.

If you believe in Imago Dei, then you understand the importance of the human race as well as the ramifications of having a limited shelf life.  People are not products, they are persons; persons with wants, needs, and desires similar to your own.  And what's most significant about people, another fact that proves the falsity of the "eternal present," is that persons can still matter even if they no longer exist.  Memories can live on in the next generation which can then give way to story in subsequent generations.  Ideas can outlive them all and have the power to unite or divide thousands of years removed from the original source.  And it's these qualities that separate us from all the other living species on this planet; the ability to create and hold ideas, to establish beliefs, to discern truth from deception, and pass these intangible traits along to others.  That's truly remarkable, and each and every one of us is capable of doing likewise.  Human consciousness needs time markers lest it gets lost inside the illusion (much like a genjutsu) of an eternal present.  Let the past speak and the future wait its turn.  Let people exist in history, not YOUR story.  Don't treat others like a carton of milk, treat them like they contain the spark of the divine, the Imago Dei.    

Besides, if you've ever relegated me to the trash can of your past, here's a small token of proof to show you I still exist.