Where have all the Flowers gone?

I remember a 1960’s song sung by the Kingston Trio called, “Where have all the flowers gone,”
The lyrics are:

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn

   The verse speaks about life, love, and death.   Life begins and then it ends.  The song written during the days of the Viet Nam War is actually about the cycle of history and how impossible it is to break.  It is the continual repetition of events and human behavior moving in cycles.  Life goes on duplicating the past, only the participants change.  Do we ever really learn?  Do we learn too late in life?
   Looking at my own life and thinking of the past.   I frequently notice recurring patterns of my behavior, renewing themselves in the lives of my family.    Although this current generation has acquired more and more, modern conveniences and advanced technologies, human relations are unaltered.      Populations, cultures, and traditions, remain unaffected stuck in time like fat drippings that solidify as they cool.   When will humans ever learn?
   I think about the history of the world and the actions of people and countries.   Folks remain greedy for power and control, and their religious wars are persisting even in today’s world.  Their goal is to propagate their own sacred beliefs and traditions.   These attitudes go back, as far as, biblical times.   Oh, “a long time passing.”
    Now, I look back at my own life, my mistakes, my joys, and my beliefs.  Each slip-up may have been avoided, if only I had listened to someone with experience.   Oh, how my joys were doubled and tripled when wisdom was received.   And, I recall in my youth, my faith and belief in God was fragmented and immature.  
    The dictionary states, ‘that wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events, or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions.’   How does a person gain wisdom?   It is not an innate characteristic formed in a human mind.   Wisdom must be lived and learned.
   Like the girls in the song, we go through life picking all the flowers.   Time and again history repeats itself.   We are greedy to have it all, inconsiderate of what the future holds.   Or, what if there are no more flowers?   Moderation, sharing and caring for one another is the reality for our existence on this earth.     Humanity continues to ignore the value and significance of what it possesses.    Only after it is lost or stolen is this understood.     A quote comes to mind when I think of growing in maturity and wisdom.   George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Youth is wasted on the young.”  How true,! If only I knew then what I know now.   Hmmm, I wonder how different my life would be today.    
   “Where have all the flowers gone a long time ago?”