I am Essential

I am serving on the front lines now, putting my life at risk to save humanity not from a pandemic, but from the illusion of life itself you carry.
I have been essential throughout history, in all cultures, in all religions, all races, in every life form that exists but you haven’t noticed me until now.
You’ve only noticed me because you fear your life is at risk, but in truth, you have risked your life and the life of this earth for many a thing, most of which you call progress.
Well that progress comes with sacrifice, always has, always will.
Progress.
In the mid 1800’s, thousands of Native Americans were forced from their ancestral lands in what is known as the Trail of Tears to make way for the ‘white’ man.
The Tuskegee Study of African American Males to observe untreated syphilis so that those more fortunate could have the antidote.
The suffragettes.
Rosa Parks.
DDT pesticide use in American History.
Thalidomide.
History books can be filled with the sacrifices we have all made in the name of progress, in wanting more, needing more, in having more.
We have all become essential, or rather expendable.
How much more of humanity are we willing to sacrifice?
I hope it doesn’t take another world crisis for us to notice how valuable human life is or the life of this earth we call home.
Are our needs that great?