You may have heard the story about Margaret Mead’s take on the earliest sign of civilization. Dr. Ira Byock tells this story in his book The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life:
A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization?” The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon.
Margaret Mead thought for a moment; then she said, “A healed femur.”
A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend.
Mead explained that where the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest—rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.
In 2020, during this time of medical, political and social upheaval, we’re looking for signs of civilization, signs of compassion all around us. And we’re finding it in our own versions of healed femurs.
In the last seven months, we’ve expressed compassion by wearing masks and keeping our distance to protect those we love and the strangers all around us. We’ve shown compassion in the form of gratitude for frontline workers—those who keep us healthy and fed—as they risk their own lives daily to save ours. In the last five months, we’ve demonstrated compassion for our Black brothers and sisters when we stand with them to bring about positive change. In the last two months in the Cedar Rapids area, we’ve expressed compassion for people, animals and all of Earth through hours of donated time to clean up after a debilitating storm. Each of these acts of compassion is an act in support of our civilization, our community.
As Dr. Douglas Zipes writes:
“COVID-19 has challenged us like no other calamity, and the end seems a long way off. But we will get through it as a nation of Americans helping each other, dispelling feelings of hopelessness and fear. It will not be easy, as the number of infected people grows, deaths increase, and financial markets crumble. I don’t underestimate the seriousness of our present situation, but we will prevail. We must.”
How are we being called to show compassion for those who are injured in light of the current medical, social and political unrest?
How are we doing the hunting, gathering and protecting of those most in need right now?
What will be the healed femur—the sign of our civilization—decades from now when we look back on this unprecedented time?
—Andi Lewis, Prairiewoods marketing coordinator