Ashley Mwanza

Things are falling apart, can we restore them? Our world continues to teeter on the edge of chaos. It is easy to become discouraged when we look at the world, our hearts tend to get startled. Hatred, racism, killings, terrorism, conflict, hunger, famine, and strife are frightening realities of this life. These are the signs of our times, and they only seek to cause trouble and confusion.

What are the roots of the perilous condition of human affairs? We are born into a world where the narrow confines of superiority complexes and bigotry suffocate imagination. In religion, culture, race, and society, each group of people has defined itself until it has confined itself and cannot imagine a world where all people are of one accord. It is the lack of imagination that has caused the divide in our world and subjected it to constant anguish and turmoil.

But how can we rid ourselves of such monstrosities? Only an effort from each and every one of us will create a better world. So ask yourself, “What am I doing about it?”

Mira Patel said it well when she said, each step taken is so much gained even though the distance seems long to cover. And time itself seems to be on our side! The very notion of “acceleration” has undergone a change. There is a “simultaneity of speeds or movements” in a multidimensional “space-time” continuum, which cannot be compared to anything we have known before. Truly, a time of the “unexpected” when everything has taken on a new and richer dimension of complexity and of total experience.

The future is with us, shaping our present moments. Let us take the stand to make sure we have a future generation that will look back in awe and not in disgust.

For us to arrive at a clarity regarding the root causes of the problems facing us in this world, we must look at ourselves, as we are today, at the present moment of man's progression on earth. We need to discover a concrete line of action, that can lead to a qualitative change in our existential state of being. For only such a change will make it possible for us to bring about a change in the outer structures of life, hitherto a peaceful world.

A shakeup arrived at by external means of compromise and accommodation has been tried but does not work any longer. Its reach is at best limited and precarious. A fresh impetus of action is called for. Perhaps it is a process of an inner assimilation of contraries realised in man's own consciousness that is now needed. We need to examine ourselves individually. We all have our flaws. None of us are infallible.

We citizens of the world seem more of a reactive audience, but we ought to be a proactive cast. Maybe those who are in leadership positions are not creating an atmosphere of action from all and by all. We seem to only move when dissonances and conflicts reach a point at which their resolution becomes more important than holding on to a fixed position, or when one’s experiences and encounters of the other go beyond the boundaries one takes for granted. At times lives are lost in the process. This (reactive stance) we have to change and nip the problem in the bud.

Peace among various peoples cannot come from mere tolerance, because both tolerance and intolerance are based on negative value judgments. Instead of tolerance, humanity must share sincere understanding. Understanding does not mean that the individual must compromise his or her own beliefs or accept beliefs that are antithetical to his or her own. Understanding, however, leads to a person’s willingness to accommodate other inhabitants of this our planet in a fair and respectful manner so that the world can peacefully unite in its diversity.

In our personal lives, we all sooner or later realize that love is a much better way to relate to our families and friends. Isn't it time to apply the lessons of the microcosm to the macrocosm, to make love the underlying principle of how nations and peoples relate to each other and to the planet? Would you harm your own family? Treat all as your family, understand them, and learn to love them. In the words of Mac McKinney, “It is time, philosophically and practically, to pull the weeds, trim back the briars and walk the forgotten path of love on the world stage.”

We can easily move away from this disorderly world if we work at it and not leave it (the problems) beneath the surface, it is bound to simmer. It is our prerogative to see to it that we at least try to make a change. We cannot sit back and say it will continue, and so there’s nothing we can do about it. We must stand and say this must stop. We just have to make the effort. Let us try. We are all of one race...THE HUMAN RACE...let us live and act like-wise.

A tribute to all victims of the injustices in our world.