There are specific instruments for determining dry and liquid measure, for gauging weight, speed, time, distance and all aspects of the accelerated progression of modern existence.
In nature there is no repose. All things move forward to a certain stage of maturity before beginning to decline. In days of old that natural progression seemed much slower than in today’s fast-forward society. It seems odd to hear even today’s youth speak of how quickly time is flying. One distinct measure of spiritual maturity however, is one’s ability to accept responsibility and to give credit where credit is due. It takes no particular amount of wisdom or special intellect to accept praise and shift blame but it requires a very special degree of spiritual maturity to be able to reverse this process.
Many would agree that the corded fiber that has bound together the religious and political fabric of our society is loosening more with time as crime and decadence continue to increase at home and abroad and trickle down from high places as with various administrations expected to serve as models and mediators. However no one will assume any responsibility for this alarming trend. Everyone is passing the buck of blame–and there’s certainly enough to go around. One panelist, in referring to today’s lamentably flawed public school systems, remarked that the teachers are afraid of administration, administration is afraid of the parents, the parents are afraid of the children, and the children aren’t afraid of anybody! Unfortunately there is often more truth than humor to that comment.
Society blames fragmenting religion while fragmenting religions blame society; politicians blame former and existing administrations as each continues to blame the other, and the buck is passed on and on in a never ending vicious cycle. Likewise the multiplicity of agencies formed to address society’s many problems too often end up contributing more to the problem than to the solution.
Renowned educator Benjamin E. Mays stated: ”We have mastered the air, conquered the sea, annihilated distance and prolonged life, but we are not wise enough to live on this earth without war and without hate.” We learned from a weekend “crash course” (of “6 weeks basic training) at SAC Air Force Command, Offutt, Neb. with then Gov. Lynwood Holton, that the instigation of hate must precede war.
The primary missing ingredients at the core of the problem can best be summed up in 3 E’s–Education, of greatest importance involving development of the material aspect of mankind – physical, which involves development of the material aspect of man; mental that deals with expansion and development of the brain to fullest potential, and spiritual, the process of acquiring and perfecting virtues and morals through closer communion with our Creator; Equity–the most fundamental among human virtues as evaluation of all things depends upon it; and Example, the greatest influence of all upon society.
With the quantum leap in recent development of science and technology it is becoming more apparent with time that “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens. . . The injury of one shall be the injury of all; the comfort of each, the comfort of all; the honor of one, the honor of all,” as stated in the Baha’i Scriptures. Once this fact is realized and education is equitably administered, then will this revered nation live up to its high destiny and lead all nations by the dynamic force of Example and not by force.
