“Acid does more damage to the vessel in which it is stored, than to the objects on which it is poured.”
This timeless morsel of literary wisdom never pales with time. I am not sure of its origin, only the source from which it came to me–through an unforgettable, well-known, highly respected and admired local lady, Ms. Zenobia Ferguson, while “The Trib” was still located on Henry Street.
I have since editorialized many times on the detriment of harboring such personal and societal acids as hate, hurt, greed, envy, jealousy, bitterness, revenge, excessive love, and of course the big one, control! Regrettably I see no remote chance of the topic becoming untimely for many centuries to come.
It was only a couple of short years ago that my (first born) son in LA and I were discussing my “unpleasant” (to put it mildly) relationships with the men in my life, starting with early childhood. “But I’m not bitter,” I added.
“You are bitter,” he fired back which, after giving serious thought for some time thereafter, shocked me into coming to grips with its reality—apparently through the years. Since then I have been conscientiously “dealing with decades of “hurt and hate erosion.” I can now more clearly recognize and appreciate the blessing of being amply supplied with early childhood Christian upbringing that blends so well into the Baha’i Holy Writings and Divine Guidance of this New Day of God. As there is such a thin line between hurt and hate it’s hard to tell when you’ve crossed it. And the longer the acid is contained, the greater the damage to the vessel in which it is stored.
Consider then the perpetual psychological and spiritual damage being done through any one, and especially a combination of aforementioned societal acids that continues to erode the very core of peace and goodwill among men and nations. Consider also, despite our inability or refusal to acknowledge the detriment of the acids we perpetually harbor, that whatever the content, good or bad, is what will saturate our immediate surroundings upon overflow.
In the Holy Bible we read, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.”~ Prov. 22:6 More explicitly stated at this new maturity of man we read, “The education and training of children is among the most meritorious acts of humankind and draweth down the grace and favour of the All-Merciful, for education is the indispensable foundation of all human excellence and alloweth man to work his way to the heights of abiding glory… They must favour character and conduct above the sciences and arts. Good behaviour and high moral character must come first for unless the character be trained, acquiring knowledge will only prove injurious. Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct and virtuous character; otherwise it is a deadly poison, a frightful danger!” ~ Baha’i Education p.29 #74
With the propensity of many to mimic or outdo others, may we set standards for those who would do so that will be beneficial to society as a whole and to mankind in the agrigate.
“This is the Day that God hath ordained to be a blessing unto the righteous, a retribution for the wicked, a bounty for the faithful, and a fury of His wrath for the faithless, the froward and contumacious.” (Investigate! – 1-800-22unite)
