There are six billion of us who right now are roaming around the Earth – six billion people wrecking havoc at places and leaving a nasty imprint at every soil they step on. We are uncontrollable, undaunted by the threat of humanity’s end which springs from our selfishness and greed for wealth and power.
Yes, I said that right. Each one of us in certain ways contribute to building the wall that keep us farther away from attaining genuine peace on Earth. Even the self-confessed advocates of peace may unconsciously give their own share in the rising wall. Try to answer these honestly: How many times have you failed to simply flash a “true” smile to another person whom you come across with on your way to work just because you are busy thinking about how you can accomplish a task successfully to earn a promotion?; How many times did you forgive other persons’ misgivings even though they are consistently making your life miserable day after day?; How many times have you reflected about whether you hurt someone with your words and actions and planned to accept your fault and sincerely apologize for it in the earliest possible time?; When have you thanked God for giving you another day on Earth, not because you need it but because you can complete other persons’ existence through it?
John Donne once said, “No man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the whole…” We exist all because somebody else exists. A person’s destiny is determined by another person’s choices and decisions in life. If that is so, why do we need to fight over an issue only to find out later that we can solve it at an open and peaceful dialogue? Why should powerful countries launch wars and engage in more bloodshed with other countries to attain the most-coveted peaceful living? It is said that a mistake, no matter how simple or complicated, no matter how big or small can and will never be solved by another mistake.
We are dubbed as the highest form of being on Earth for we are endowed with wisdom – wisdom that allows us to discriminate those which is right and which is wrong, those which can hurt or which can elevate morale and those which can help a person realize his potentials or can destroy his hope for success. But why does it seem like we haven’t perfected those gifts yet despite all the generations that passed before us? There are so many questions yet only a few have answers.
In consideration of all of these, I envision a world where people respect one another. One, where the populace is sensitive about each other’s feelings and not one where everyone tries to reach the pinnacle at the cost of stepping down at somebody else. I am dreaming of a world where we, the people realize the importance of other person’s existence for without them our existence wouldn’t also be possible. I yearn for a society where people are honest with what they think and feel because by honesty, all other good things will come.
Respect. Sensitivity. Honesty. These are three simple words that are vital to achieving genuine peace on Earth. It may be impossible to force other people to practice these three but if we start it with ourselves, since we are in some ways interconnected with one another, the chance of achieving that most sought-after prize will be a 100% possibility in the future.
However, I must admit that my voice, energy and resources in promoting this advocacy are incomparable with those of big organizations dedicated to promoting peace but I know that as a simple teacher, my words will live on in the hearts and minds of my students even after my life here on Earth ends. My hopes are high that one of them will someday become a catalyst of the genuine and lasting peace that the past generation started to envision since time immemorial and that we of today’s generation are still painstakingly seeking for.
0 comments:
Post a Comment