In today’s impersonal, high-tech “modern” society it is nearly impossible to talk with anyone in the transaction of any business, and/or individual communication has become a lost art. Add to this frustration the subsequent breakdown of the family unit through the same inability to communicate, plus the easily accessible inferior, demeaning, and mostly degrading visual and audio technology with which far too many children, youth, and adults have become hooked on replacing such “old fashioned” communication, and the sum of the equation is a bit depressing as well as frightening.
Depressing to those of us old enough to have been brought up in homes in which at least one parent firmly instilled morals and manners from earliest childhood–if not through love or fear of God, through love or fear of that parent. And frightening when we observe daily how little value is placed on our own life as well as the lives of others.
Thus we introduce the two primary controlling factors of mankind-fear and love. The infant is controlled by fear–of pain, alienation, rejection, etc.–until it matures enough to experience the love, of a parent, sweetheart, mate, child, or ultimately God (however you perceive Him). Unfortunately, many of the children, youth, and young adults of today have little understanding of either emotion as they too easily kill over transitory things to which they feel emotionally attached (often mistaken for love) and either fear nothing, of living in such perpetual fear that it is not recognized as such. Such irrational emotions have become so commonplace that it is hardly recognized until it erupts into news-making proportions, and it follows no discernable pattern of race, age, culture, or socioeconomic status. If we would be honest with ourselves, we all ride those emotional roller coasters, especially in today’s dehumanized society where a smile or kind word is getting harder to come by. But herein lies the challenge! Dolly Parton always says, “If you see someone without a smile, give ‘em one of yours.” I often try it with children and it’s not always easy to do. But not many challenges are easy.
Then there is the wisdom of renowned educator Benjamin E. Mays (one of my favorites) who stated: “Whatever one touches, the aim should always be to leave that which one touches better than you found it.” I would certainly hope, the lives we touch in these stressful times are no exception. The big challenge is to try to lift the spirits of those lives we touch higher than they can bring ours down, whether in isolated incidents or especially with those who you know well will present the biggest challenge.
One helpful Baha’i passage on which I am heavily leaning is: “As far as you are able, ignite a candle of love in every meeting. And with tenderness, rejoice and cheer ye every heart.” We are warned not to get too confident when it works or too depressed when it fails to. Just don’t give up on yourself, especially if others do. But you cannot lift yourself (physically or spiritually) by your own bootstraps. This is why I continue to immerse myself each morning upon waking in the ocean of God’s love, wisdom, and support for survival in today’s challenging times. During such tranquil communication with God, I force myself to continue the practice I developed as a child, to memorize poems, hymns, and passages that strengthen me, which I frequently share with you as there is nowhere else today that you could find some of it. Most of the Baha’i Writings are available, however, but I doubt that many of you would otherwise know of them or their rejuvenating power and hope for this day as evidenced in my memorizations: “I adjure Thee by Thy might, O my God! Let no harm beset me in times of tests, and in moments of heedlessness, guide my steps aright through Thine inspiration.”
