IN a play I’ve just written, I have waiters in a restaurant singing, “If the world was a café! Yes, what a beautiful world it would be,’” sing the waiters in barbershop quartet style, but today I’d like to ask, “What if Earth is a ship? What if each country has a certain portion of the ship to look after? One gets the upper deck, the other the engine room, another the cabins, and others the lifeboats, hull and so on.
I’m sure our main interest would be on running the ship rather than in just looking after our little area. Also, greater respect for one another as we realize our dependence on each other for the greater common good: Keeping ship afloat!
As such thoughts went through my mind I remembered Jim Mathis and his experience on a cruise ship: “What impressed me most was the crew!” says Jim, “There were 755 crew members from 51 different countries on board. “I made an effort to get to know some of the crewmembers and learn a little about each of them. Some of them were taking time off from college or had just come right out of school; others were seasoned professionals, and I’m sure there were individuals there that just needed the money. But they all honestly seemed to have great respect for one another and worked hard to make the cruise a wonderful experience for everyone involved.”
“One of the crew members commented that the multinational, multicultural crew was similar to the United Nations – except that aboard the ship, the people actually liked each other!” “My observation is that at the UN the concerned ambassador just defends his or her country’s point of view at all cost. On board ship, they have to work together in a spirit of mutual cooperation to get the ship going.” “ This makes a huge difference.”
“During the cruise, I half jokingly suggested that we should fire everyone at the United Nations and assign the job to the crew of a cruise ship! I honestly believe that with people like this, focused on the common good rather than their own independent interests, viable solutions could be found to most of the world’s problems within a few days!” Jim is right. But how do we run our ship called earth?
“Hey!” shouts the chief in charge of the upper deck, “We need to do some cleaning! Steal some oil from the engine room! Those guys there have too much oil!” “But sir the engines need oil and our ship won’t be able to withstand the wind and the waves if we stall!” “Who cares! Steal the oil!” And with communal sword and selfishness we destroy the engine room, smash the rudder, shatter the hull, make holes in the bottom and then stare with horror as the cruise ship called Earth slowly starts to sink..!
