Where is the love?

If you look at many legends and myths that speak of the End of Mankind - many of them state that near the end we lose many things that are what make us human.

It is a bit scary when you contrast these things to our world today...

What are things that make us human? These 'things' are traits, values, actions and characteristics which require a sense of "humanity" to exist. Love, generosity, forgiveness, mercy, faith, charity, justice, patience, honour, etc... These are amongst the things that we need to be human, as they are what give us our humanity.

It saddens me when I look at the world (and to be honest at myself and those around me) where I see these traits losing their relevance. There was a time not too long ago when honour and modesty were amongst the most important traits one could exhibit. They were coveted and given a place of importance in society as those who were seen as being honourable were also those who were the wise, venerable members of society. Nowadays, the wise, venerable members of society are oftentimes relegated to nursing homes or long-term care facilities even when they really don't need to be.

Love is another interesting feature of humanity. When I think of love, I think of the love that existed hundreds if not thousands of years ago. I think of Romeo and Juliet, of Laila and Majnun, of Heer and Ranjha, of Radha and Krishna. I sadly don't see a similar comparison today. It feels as though the more technologically capable we become as a society, the less important emotions such as love become. I worry that the reason why I don't see the classic love story in today's society is not because these stories were fictitious to begin with, but because that calibre of love is simply not possible today... that is a scary and sad thought. If the greatest emotion we can exhibit is love (and I truly believe that statement to be correct), and gradually the love we have for each other is changing into a less cohesive emotion, then the logic indicates that human emotions in general are likely being sublimated by the human intellect. I see a society with more gadgets but less happiness. I see a civilization that has infinite potential and vast amounts of information but less knowledge and wisdom. I see a world filled with lust and greed but losing it's love... or maybe substituting that love for something that is more... convenient.

But, even after looking at the importance of love, the one characteristic that I feel we cannot lose at any cost is patience.

Surprising isn't it? I would have expected myself to say faith, especially considering how essential faith is to my life. The relevance of patience is seen in the story of Pandora's box - an ancient Greek myth where a "perfect woman" is created and given a final gift - a box - she is told to never open it, but her curiosity overcomes her and she opens the box only to let out all the ills that inflict mankind - disease, famine, greed, etc... However Pandora manages to shut the box before the final demon can escape - the demon of despondency, of hopelessness.

Patience is essential to our humanity, for patience is hope. When we are patient, we live expecting better things in the future. We are able to overcome the trials and tribulations of today believing in tomorrow bringing us something better. Now, I am not saying that all of our troubles will be solved by simply being patient, but I do believe that patience plays a key role in our ability to hope - and this hope leads us onwards. There are so many difficulties that face us in our lives, death, heartbreak, disability, pain, etc... yet all of these things can be remedied by one thing alone - time. How to get this time? ... By being patient, by having hope.

I want to hope, I want to believe in our humanity. I want mankind to overcome the trials and tribulations facing us as a species and as individuals. I pray that this hope, magnified many times over by all of you will help us find our tomorrow.

Ethical Decisions

One of the more difficult tasks we as human beings are given is the making of ethical decisions.

Is it better to hurt someone beloved now, or later? Is it best to grow in a selfish manner (albeit spiritually) or is it best to stay behind as a group? Which side is correct when looking at any problem or dilemma?

The answer depends on your perspective to a certain extent, but looking in further, these answers lie within a set of ideals.

Ethics are a set of ideals which form values. To my limited understanding, an ethical principle would be a higher order way of looking at the world. Now being a high-order perspective, ethical principles are not always used actively in the actual decision making process. Yes, an individual can rank ethical principles based on their own experiences, however a person is more likely to use their values to actually make decisions in their daily lives.

Values, to me, would be the manifestation of ethical principles. Values when grouped together within a framework, be it cultural, religious or otherwise form a phenomenon known as a value system.

Value systems and values are what allow us to use our logical, reasoning minds to make ethical decisions. If you really think about it, a logical entity would not necessarily care about ethical principles, unless these principles resulted in more benefit than harm. So, the way in which our logical minds interact with these principles are through values and value systems.

Being the manifestation of ethical principles, our values form the backbone of society in a lot of ways. When looking at what is valued in a given society, you have to take into account the history of the society, the identity of the society, choices made within the society and problems facing it. So, looking at the values of a society tells us more than simply the ethical ideals that society holds dear.

At the end though, ethical actions, values, value systems... they are different but they are all expressed in the same way. Through our daily lives, through every action we take.

Which is the best way - no one knows, all we can do is pray for guidance, and think on the problems that face us... and I believe that this is a part of the solution, for when we think on the problem, at least we are engaging our values, and this engagement is the purpose of having these values in the first place isn't it?