Shining Vs. Shading

A perfect sphere of bright flowers

This cheery little mound of orange flowers grows in front of the Goodwill store in Murray, Kentucky. The flowers and their location remind me of the song, "Brighten the Corner Where You Are."

Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar;
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are...
                                   --  Ina D. Ogdon, published 1913

Our little plant here pours itself into its lifework of producing bright flowers, without any concern about better places where it could be planted.  Of course, we shouldn't be as mindlessly docile as a plant when we find ourselves stuck in a bad spot. But we can and should bloom where we are, even while we're striving for transplant.  Life is too short to wait.

I think this is somewhat related. A man named John Suggs said this on Facebook the other day, in response to the horrific Las Vegas shooting:

Before you start talking about race, politics and other nonsense during this tragedy, take a look at this floor [ referring to a photo of a blood-stained hospital hallway.] Can you spot the republican blood? Can you spot the blood of democrats? What about the black and white blood? Mexican blood? The blood of officers and other first responders? I didn't think you could. We all bleed the same. We all are human. We can't afford to only unite in tragedy. STOP WITH ALL THIS UNEDUCATED, HATE FILLED, FINGER POINTING BS AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO SHINE INSTEAD OF CASTING SHADOWS!