In this period of growing world distress and challenge, it is good to remember that maybe someone or something else is pulling the strings.
My dear friend Sandy Wilder who sends out the most profound and enlightening free daily messages anyone can receive, recently sent out this poem:
The Source of Angst There is an intelligent, harmonious, Self-sustaining order to the unfoldment of the entire Universe. When we are afraid we are believing a fabrication that makes us lose awareness of the way Universal Law is unfolding in the present moment. The source of angst is either the Universe making her first mistake, or your mind.
Personally, I find it difficult to believe that the infinitely loving intelligence running this incredible show called the universe would suddenly make mistakes, though I know that my mind has often made such mistakes – and many others.
So, I dare declare myself an ontological optimist who believes in a bright future for humanity – although there may be some very difficult challenges to overcome on the way. And it seems I am in good company. Martin Luther King, one of the great personalities of American history who had a world impact in the last century once wrote:
“Today, in the night of the world and in hope, I affirm my faith in the future of humanity. I refuse to believe that the present circumstances make men incapable of making a better world. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. Life, even if temporarily defeated, is always stronger than death. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a bright morning, I believe that peaceful kindness will one day become the law. Every man will be able to sit under his fig tree, in his vineyard, and no one will have any reason to be afraid.”
The way each one of us views the world is entirely subjective. There is absolutely no justification for this choice, and to claim the contrary is either ignorance or arrogance. As a result, each one of us lives in the world of her or his choosing. If anyone ever had his share of stark challenges and temporary hells, it is MLK and yet he chose to have this amazingly positive vision.
It has been my privilege in life to visit, live, study, or work in around 40 countries of the five continents. I have seen poverty in its most extreme forms. For five years, on Hann-Plage in Dakar, in the seventies, I literally lived sandwiched in between two shantytowns where the children regularly explored my garbage can. And yet, how many of the “poor” (according to our very questionable definitions of poverty) have I known who literally radiated joy! And how many multimillionaires in my home country Switzerland spend endless hours on the couches of psychiatrists searching for a peace and contentment that elude them!
Excuse-me, what is the colour of your glasses?
Pierre Pradervand, Author of 365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World & Founder of The Gentle Art of Blessing
Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash