This Writing of Baha’u’llah stirs my soul. Yes, the earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. There remain many who would consider this statement pie in the sky and Utopian. I am not one. Indeed, the work of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek spoke to the need and inevitability of a global civilization. If we truly understand history, civilization is on its own evolutionary journey. In the beginning, unity was of the family, then the tribe, then the village, town, city, region, nation and commonwealth. Unity has been on an expansionary trajectory. What were once enemies are now friends. This is our history, despite the horrors along the way. The necessity of this is clear. As our understanding of the world grows, so does our connection. It is easy to hate those we do not know. Being of a family that worked at the Heart’s Content Cable Station through two “great” wars and a depression, I understand that separation is the breeding ground of hate and apathy alike. As we are forced to understand our real connection, we “get it”; but it requires us to get real.
Enter the loss of one Syrian child. It has disgusted us and is moving us. Upon a short visit to Qatar back in March of 2013, I met three different Syrians… one, of secular and American background. Another, an engineer. Yet another, an entrepreneur. All three and separate conversations remain with me; the hurt over their country torn apart… their history being destroyed. I was so moved, feeling tears from behind my eyes; even now. These were people, my brothers and sisters in humanity. These were people of careers and hopes and dreams for peace, passion and prosperity. These people were and are real.
The news often seems surreal. As a child of 7, I remember hearing radio reports of Guerilla soldiers in Vietnam. I imagined we were fighting gorillas. It was the time of Planet of the Apes after all. But, even then, as a child, I remember, upon finding out the truth, that I understood what increased knowledge could do to and for our perceptiveness. The world is getting closer. From economics to matters of social justice, our connection is becoming more evident. Connection breeds empathy; it builds an empathetic civilization.
I have long said that the virtues (the strengths of character) are the one thing that truly unites us. These qualities are our humanity. Their absence is our inhumanity. We are diverse in our colors, blood types, heights, weights, genders, thoughts and more. We are united in our ability to access and practice the virtues, the highest qualities of being human. While many might not be practicing the strengths of character; they are our collective birthright… of free access to us all, by choice. For now… ask yourself “Which of these virtues would most help me individually to be part of the solution?” Which ones, collectively practiced, would advance the cause of a better world… locally and globally… at work, school and community?
We have the power to be the change. That is the core of our own work. It is our passion and purpose. It is who we are. It is. In closing, and for now, check out more. Get connected, because, whether you realize it or not, you already are. In this way, each of us one at a time, can change the world.
Peace, passion and prosperity.
Barry Lewis Green, aka The Unity Guy™
For your listening and visual pleasure….
Hugs…..
and now, go fight the good fight… peace.