With the deaths of Star Trek icons Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart this week, a lot of people have been grieving. It hurts to acknowledge the passing of well-known, loved, and admired actors who, through their considerable skills, brought well-crafted and directed stories to life for our entertainment and emotional satisfaction. And through the window of celebrity, they continued as public figures, interacting with fans and friends alike over the years.

When they die, it inevitably reminds us of our own mortality and that time waits for none of us. It is also a stark reminder that, no matter our personal beliefs or political ideologies, every life is precious from conception to grave. We are all special and beloved to someone, whether parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends or acquaintances, even if we don’t know or acknowledge it.

And that’s why it isn’t worth it to hate any one individual or group of people, regardless of ethnicity, place of origin, political or personal ideology. Not only does it waste time, emotion, cause oneself stress and potentially inflict harm or in extreme cases, the death of others but in the end, it accomplishes nothing. Life will continue as long as life continues on this world. What matters is how we live these precious hours, days, weeks, months and years we’re allotted. Will we bring hope, peace, and joy to others or will we bring misery, hatred and sadness? We all have free will, so what will we do with it? None of us are perfect, we will make mistakes along the way, misjudge some circumstances and people; that’s part of life, too. But we can also rise above our limitations and change for the better and grow as people. I firmly believe that.

I’m adding my last personal, studio-recorded song from 1990, an instrumental version of my original tune called “Shades of Gray.” I played the electric bass guitar, synthesizers and a little guitar part at the end. The lead guitar and sound production was by my friend, Randy McCullough. We recorded it in his home studio in June 1990. Anyway, please consider it musical food for thought.

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