As I have traveled all over the world, I have gotten the
chance to gain different perspectives of the world. I have had the chance to
hear an Israeli brother who invited me into his house and shared his opinion on
fishery and his concern with depleting aquatic life, while the rest of the
world was overwhelmed in fear about life in Israel, terrified, thinking it was
a ‘dangerous’ country due to bombing publicity. I had traveled through Europe
and I got to see what marvelous wonders art and design has done to countries,
yet an Italian brother explains to me the effects of globalization in a detrimental
way to his life that my native Texas roots would have never understood unless I
was abroad to see and understand its effects when extreme. I have been in
Morocco where I saw poor men bathing themselves in chemical die so they could
make money for their family, knowing the given terrible health conditions. In
El Salvador, I have seen people work to feed their family and work to help
others out with expecting a cent in return, in a place where every cent counts.
In the Bay Islands of Honduras, I was invited into 90 year-old Shirley’s house
in which she explained to me how she was born on the same property as the house
she was in, and how though she had lived all over the states, she is resting
the rest of her life where she was born, the place where she has seen go
through the conquering phases of the pirates, British, Spanish, and now Hondurans…
however the crystal- clear water, the white sand, and the beautiful sunset has
never changed on her. I’ve also been in podunk Sunray, TX, population of
~6,000, where I shared old red- neck mechanics Persian dishes, and they loved
it. A place where I thought would be hard for me to live because of my nationality,
but it proved me wrong. No prejudice hit their hearts before and after I left.
In many accounts, many people have surprised me. I have been
quick to judge many people, but in the end, I have found that their better half
has shined, all over the world. Recently, Hurricane Sandy hit New York, and I
saw the concern of many Salvadorans in their eyes. I was quite surprised at
first. I thought, “Wow, I’m surprised you knew about this. I’m surprised you know
more about this than I do. Why thank you for being concerned for my people back
home.” And when I realized I thought this, I knew I was wrong. What did that
mean? My people? After all I had been taught by parents and my faith, I felt my
national pride inherent, and quite disgusting. My people???? As if the national
boarders that surrounded the country was an imaginary line that was to separate
my concern for humanity. As if the colors I have seen on a map as a child were not to separate geographical borders, but classes of people.
I also have been in many situations in which as we begin to
talk about the progress of the world and its situation in which we live in, I
can feel the lack of confidence people hold in our society. If we talk about
steps for peace, steps for righteousness, steps for brotherhood and
understanding, I hear… “And you know the world we live in today…” as a sense of
doubt that it has gotten better. No, more so, as a sense that we are taking
steps down the ladder. It is to our own fault that we see the world like so,
but the divine help has increased since day one, the scientific discoveries are
advancing, and the social status quo is ever-so-arising all over the world.
Whenever could you contact an Individual in a corrupt country like Cuba,
Venezuela, or Iran like you can today?... instantaneously? This world has a lot
of work, but let’s take a look at where we are really at in the timeline.
400 years ago. Conquest. Death in the name of religion.
Helpless native tribes fight for their land, yet are introduced to God with a
sword in one hand in want for gold in the other.
250 years ago- American Revolution. Brothers and cousins
fighting for independence, when Britain’s greed was the primary root.
Bloodshed. Conflict. Kids devoting their lives to the bayonets in their hands.
Kids breaded to kill their opponent. Hate was real
200 years ago- Independence throughout Latin America. One-
by- one, countries revolted or bought out their independence from their former
European owners
150 years ago- The Baha’i faith is brought into the world,
and like Christ, and Muhammad were denied, the people of the world shot down
any possible creation of good intention from such a pure religion. Superstition
took over humankind, but nevertheless, the divine help began to advance mankind.
It helped in terms of scientific advancement. The telegraph was invented,
eventually cars, planes, and other forms of telecommunication. At this point an
American Civil War was happening where African Americans were being stood up
for and civil rights began to mean something in the world
100 years ago- The world was now becoming industrialized.
The world was making goods economically and using resources from all over the
world. There were still problems in every country, but good was beginning to
happen. At this point, roots of the African- American Civil Rights Movement is
seen.
90 years ago- women in the states began to finally have
equal rights. Yes, my American brothers, we often feel Middle- Eastern
traditions are often so alien to us, but we forget how our country functioned
100 years ago
80-60 years ago- We hit rock- bottom for a while. We had war
after war, with the Great Depression that effected the whole world. The entire
world was blood thirsty, and though African Americans had rights in a country
like the states, they were being denied the social status back home, however.
Music is hot and blooming. Interracial sports begin to develop. The UN was
developed… the first sign of cooperation midst governments
40 years ago- science nerds got their best. NASA makes it
out of this world. We look at the world from an outside perspective and we don’t
see those boundary lines we find on the map. That perspective isn’t seen from
up top. With on-going wars back in Vietnam and so forth, an American population
is protesting PEACE. This tread is seen all over the world. Peace is being
desired. At this point too, African Americans begin to integrate in schools
with whites
30 years- start of the cold war. A war that did not release
a single bomb. Mankind is finally understanding how life should be lived
happily. And though we have conflicts, bloodshed is contradictory to the
overall goal. It makes no sense to kill to live better. Kind of
counter-effective. Our Savior Christ says it best himself “Those who live by
the sword, die by the Sword” (Matthew 26:52)
20 years- internet makes a huge jump in humanity. After
Netscape was invented in 95, within 5 years, entirely the whole world was now
connected.
10 years ago- Terrorism strikes mankind. Racism, distrust,
and confusion attack the hearts of many. A united nation is come about, but not
a very united world. Science however begins to develop faster than ever. Cures
are found, social organizations are formed to help people all over the world,
the mass majority of humankind understands what is really going on.
2 years ago till present- 10 year old Jimmie now has an
I-pad and hears about a tropical storm halfway across the world. He is hurt to
know that people are in harm. He donates $1 to a cause along with half the rest
of the world. Volunteering becomes a common form of traveling for Americans and
people across the world. Haiti hits and half the world sends assistance. The
Arabic Spring is formed off social media and now humankind is fighting for
their rights with help for them around the world. Russia experiences a freeze
and half the world experiences a rise in price of wheat. Japan is stricken with
a tsunami, and where a survival of the fittest mentality has been embedded, the
Japanese victims share the very scarce water and food to their neighbors in
times of high demand, to work through the troubles together. At the same time,
nearly the whole world’s eyes are glued to the television in sorrow. High
School students have capitalized on the availability of information and one has
even found a pancreatic cancer test.
The world has amazing wonders and discoveries and the world
is all tuned in.
That brings me to the Sandy storm I have been recently asked
about.
The development is huge. We are now an international
society. We usually tune into the world’s problem as a whole. We can travel
nearly anywhere and English will be spoken… we can communicate. For the most
part, we can move to almost anywhere in the world and start a life the way we
dreamed. We are given many countries in this world where any individual can
climb up his own ladder, no matter where he/ she comes from. We live in a world
were interracial marriage is on the rise; In a world where minorities can now
become the majority.
So why don’t we see that?
Ladies & Gentlemen, if media had been rolling in any period
before 100 years ago, we would be convinced the “End of the Days” was yet at
our fingertips. Humanity just wasn't as developed back then. We didn’t have the
spiritual understanding of how life should be, but we lack the confidence in
humanity now because we aren't looking at the overall statistics, but instead,
the outliers.
The Outliers
Unfortunately, our world is full of lost souls who tend to
take the lives of individuals in ways that 99% of humankind can’t possibly
understand. When we talk about the horrid happenings such as the Columbine
shooting and those that have been made thereafter, we usually here “And we
never know what we will have in store for the future”… but, Gosh, these are the
outliers. They are not what we should be judging our progress on, no more than
any statistical analysis. In fact, when something like this happens, the whole
world hears about it, and in a way, we are united in hope that such a horrid
thing never happens. People no longer think about one point less for one
country, but one point less for mankind. That is the progressive mentality we have
gradually developed, but yet we have not noticed.
On the flip-side, I’m spending my last month right now in El
Salvador, a country that has experienced a tragedy over the past two decades. I
am reminded of how this country used to be a place where everyone used to walk
outside with no fear nor concern. Where people sang on the bus and conversed
with much animosity. I am reminded from many people that other countries such
as Venezuela, Iran, Guatemala too so were like this. But the aid to this
country is up and running. Nearly 25% of the country’s economy is being
transferred from working citizens from the states. And alone in my personal
account, I have seen girl scouts in Lubbock, TX raising money to fund community
projects that were to set up running water in the rural areas of El Salvador, I’ve
seen people donating clothes, books, pencils, and money from all over the world
to the school in which I volunteer. I know individuals who help pay professors
because they believe in the service they do without the economic return they
are given, people who adopt children halfway across the world in terms of
offering them full-ride education. And every time I have been in the airport, I
see groups from all over the world that have come to help a country in which
they have no literal affiliation with.
We have grown.
We have developed.
We have progressed.
This stuff was never happening before. Why when I show you
the pictures below that I have seen, you can feel sorrow and that intention of
wanting to help arises. That’s our inner sense connecting us to something that
we have been brainwashed to believe otherwise.
Now, I want to be very clear about this. Helping is not
socialism, nor is it communism, or anything that the mass majority has been
brainwashed to believe. Helping is doing what our best examples in the world
have told us to do, yet we have separated that with money in bloodshed so confusedly
over time.
This world that we live in today is connecting and growing.
One of my favorite quotes from Baha’u’llah is “The earth is but one country,
and mankind its citizens.” I’d imagine more people in the world agree with this
quote today than 100 years ago, so I’d say we are making the right steps. The
biggest wars are now within the countries. In El Salvador, it is due to gang
violence, in the Middle East, it is due to religious extremists not accepting
other beliefs for their own country, in the states, its American politics that
continues to divide people and further advancement.
Within time, that too will all be gone.
Back to being surprised by the individual who asked me about
Hurricane Sandy, I didn’t understand why he was so worried because I didn’t see
the world the way life really is. I saw it through the eyes of Wall Street, not
through the eyes of a person. This world is benevolent, it is beautiful, it is
rich. We just need to focus our eyes on it to see it that way.
Amidst the whole
world thinking Israel was crazy and dangerous, the people that actually lived
there were not worried about what the world said, but on things that were truly
important. Had they listened to the mass majority, they would have caught
themselves into things that were not important. If they heard how dangerous
life there was, they wouldn’t be the sweet and kind- hearted people they are.
We, humankind, have made great steps this past century, and
though we have much more to go, we are headed in the right direction. Don't focus on the outliers, but focus on the overall progress. Generation by generation, whether it’s due to unstoppable interracial
relationships, intercontinental dependence, spiritual growth, world- wide
education, or human catastrophes, we’ll eventually get to a point where we all
agree.
Life is a beautiful gift… Enjoy it wisely
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