Day 7
1/7/2017
Wow I really can’t get used to writing the year of Our Lord 2017 yet. Speaking of which, today is Christmas observed by the Orthodox Christian faith. I don’t want to get too political or religious on this blog, but I do want to talk about beliefs and respect.
In light of the recent acts of terror in the name of a monotheistic faith, I can’t help but think of the ideal (what some may call naive and others generic) desire for world peace. Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if we could honor each other’s beliefs and celebrate our differences as well as similarities? Our similarities are what make us a human race, but it’s our differences that really define our choices in life. Our unique traits draw us to connect to certain individuals better than others. We choose our friends and partners based on things that we have in common with them and not with everyone else.
We can look on our differences as a threat, or just see it as a beautiful variation that can help our species evolve in a multitude of directions. Having many choices and variability is actually good and the world would be a much more boring place if everyone was exactly alike! But honor and respect are things that would not become boring. In fact, they would prevent acts of destruction against one another. They are vital for the survival of our species as a whole.
As for religious differences, I think it’s also a matter of seeing more similarities amongst all of them rather than focusing on minute details. In the end, isn’t the point of religion to honor a greater thing than ourselves? Isn’t that ‘thing’ in one form or another the wonder of nature (whether you attest it to be because of the universe, God, deities, or any other higher power)? Aren’t we all just longing to be a part of something greater together – a community (such as a church or a circle), an ecosystem, a big macroorganism (Gaia theory)?
It’s time we start to see our differences as minute unique quirks that do not undermine the greater similarities tying all of our race together. We are hurting each other and the Earth in the meantime. Let’s rejoice together, and be free to choose in what way (as long as we don’t cause harm with our decisions).
Namaste (I honor the divine in you).
