Enjoying more and more, less and less

It has been said that of all the things available to human beings, the land of our Earth is one thing that is taken far too much for granted.
With the world population now at 6.5 billion and growing, humanity is faced with limited natural resources on which to draw.
Family farms vanish. In my home state alone, we are witnessing land being taken out of production at an alarming rate. Ohio family farms are turning in to housing developments, while in town, long-established housing developments are being leveled, once-nurtured lawns and homes turned in to parking lots.
We watch. We wonder. We worry. We do so little.
Over-crowding is said to be the real root of all evil, as people vie for space, peace, tranquility. There is envy now blasted at those who can afford the wide open spaces, when just a few short decades ago, the rush from farm to city seemed to be the only way to live.
Doesn’t make sense. It is a confusing civilization in which we live. We build bigger homes, then we never stay home. We build bigger garages to house the fancy cars and boats and toys that no one has time to enjoy.
People are working more hours than ever to pay for those fancy toys that no one has time to pull out of those costly garages.
It would be wonderful and desirable to go back to simplicity, but no one seems to know the path. Not only have we lost our way, but we have lost the sweet contentment that once came with simplicity.
Is it possible to sit on a porch swing and watch the world go by? In some parts of the world, it seems it would be difficult to even find an empty seat!
The numbers. In New York City, there are 25,000 people per square mile. In Paris, France, there are 48,780 people per square mile. It is difficult to even comprehend such statistics.
Humans were put together on this earth to lift one another up. Instead, it feels at times as though humans are crowding each other out.
In a collection of Shaker millennial hymns, contentment is often the subject matter: “Nothing on the earth below, naught that heaven can bestow, fills the soul with peace, if contentment dwell not there. All is dreary, dark and bare; she alone makes heavenly fare, she alone is bliss.”
Lost the way. We are told to follow our bliss. Finding the way seems to be one of the biggest challenges facing our world today.