When What Matters Does Not Matter

 

 

When what matters does not matter

Is not uncommon, I hope see,

And you would be amazed to recognize

It is far more common than appears to be.

 

We pay a lot of attention, most noticeably,

To matters that are of minor import

And situations that urgently require attention

Receive comparatively little support.

 

When what matters does not matter

Makes minor of a major need,

It is like trimming a patient’s fingernails

While a major artery bleeds.

The minor clearly is the patient’s fingernails

While the major is his rapid blood loss,

However, as ridiculous as this analogy may seem

The practice bears an astronomical cost.

 

Take for example, a country’s economy

That is hemorrhaging out of control,

Yet the emphasis is on revenue generating

With no effort to plug the leaking hole.

 

Or, take for example, in a COVID environment

Where the urge is to revel and play mass,

This is far more needful to countless individuals

Than the importance of wearing a mask.

 

When what matters does not matter,

There can be irreversible fallout:

Like the many lives that can be lost

And the irreparable damage without doubt.

Many times, it is cited as collateral damage:

The price that is paid for the common good

But that is when what matters does not matter

As that which matters really should.

 

And what goes hand in hand with this theme

Is when what does not matter matters,

This is when we major on the minor

And the major is lost in meaningless chatter.

 

Like an assembled group of worthy experts

Vying to win the argument

And nothing or very little is accomplished

With much time and money spent.

 

Finally, when what matters does not matter

Is also applicable to the spiritual,

It matters so much regarding the temporal

But little thought is paid to the eternal.

 

When what matters does not matter

Is really thinking like a child

And, not in the purity of the sense as some deem,

But in a childish way as must be applied.

 

When what matters really matters

Matured thinking inevitably will result

But when what matters does not matter

We will be no better off than a cult.

 

It is essential to know the essentials

And to prioritize accordingly

For when what matters does not matter

This is the recipe for unrelenting misery.

 

Stewart Russell © January 12, 2021