Yesterday I watched a funny commercial. A little boy was in the grocery store and when his papa wouldn't let him buy a bag of sweets, the boy screamed and yelled and tossed himself on the floor along with a pile of food things. It was a nasty tantrum. Other shoppers stopped to stare at the humiliated father, and then the screen faded into the slogan "Use Condoms."

Okay, so the whole point was kind of lame. But I got to thinking about how nasty and self-centered humans are. Even as little children! It's just natural human nature. The little boy couldn't have been more than 6 years old – and the sad part is that I've seen children act that way in the market in real life too.

It's horrific, really when I think about how many times I've done the adult version of a tantrum. And I look around me and see so many selfish people. How can we love each other when we're all wrapped up in ourselves so tightly that we can't even see another's pain? Isn't life and family and community supposed to be about helpful support and tender encouragement? So where did we go so wrong?

Every time I turn around, I hear somebody saying "You've got to take care of number one!" But I think it's a curse. When I'm looking out for myself and trampling others to get my way, then there's no one left to look out for me when I can't anymore. I wonder what it would be like around here if everyone worked against human nature and just took care of each other instead. Maybe we'd throw fewer tantrums?