The Parables of Gary Hobson

One of my all time favorite television shows is Early Edition.  If you haven't seen it, the main premise of the show is that the protagonist, Gary Hobson, suddenly begins to receive the local Chicago newpaper.  The thing is, though, that it's always the paper for the following day.  Because of this, he realizes he has the opportunity to prevent some of the terrible things that happen, because he knows exactly where and when they will happen before they become news.

My favorite episode, one that has made a huge impression on me and that I bring to mind when ever I feel overwhelmed and useless to make any real changes in the world, is one where there are two catastrophies that happen in a single day -- a plane crash that kills a lot of people, and a bicycle accident that kills a little girl.  As fate would have it, Gary can only right one of these pending disasters and must choose which one he will fix, and which one will result in death because of his decision.

My memory is not exact on the plot points, but I believe this is how it turned out --  The little girl was closer, so he focused on changing the situation that was right in front of him.  As he is standing in the hospital, where he has brought the girl, with injuries but still alive, he realizes that the time had passed to save the plane load of people.  According to his edition of the paper the plane would have already crashed by that time.

Suddenly, rushing down the hall comes a pilot -- the pilot of the plane that was suppose to have crashed.  He is the father of the little girl, and when he got the call she was in the hospital, they post-poned or cancelled the flight so he could get to the hospital to be with his daughter.  By saving the little girl, Gary had saved everyone on that previously ill-fated plane.

Thus has this episode become an important  modern-day parable in my personal mythology. I don't know what your experience of life is, and this may seem like just a big coincidence just to make a good story for TV, but my life actually does work like that. There is no such thing as coincidence, and the synchronicities that happen are sometimes breath-taking.  Every little thing we do, by following our path one step at a time, attending to what is directly in front of us, ripples outward with effects we can not even fathom.  We do not have to save the world -- "Think globaly, act locally."  Every thing is connected.  It is the web of life after all, and everytime a thread is tugged in one place, it is felt everywhere else. 

At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.