Let There Be Light
Two numbers, two dates – 11/9 and 9/11 – changed the world.
On 11/9/89, the Berlin Wall fell and set the stage for realignment of our world. This is the date the cold war ended and I, along with most other citizens of this planet Earth, felt lasting world peace was just beginning.
How wrong we were because 9/11/01 changed everything – for both America and the world.
America’s war on terrorism was born out of the ruins at ground zero of New York’s World Trade Center. The radical Islamic terrorists who attacked us did it in the name of their god. This is not the God that I, and I believe most peoples of the world, worship.
Following the 9/11/01 attack on freedom-loving people everywhere and the continuing war against terrorism, there is even more reason this Christmas season for Christians, and for people of all nations and faiths, to call upon our mutual Creator for strength and to help us achieve lasting world peace. And, for us to embrace life and live it more abundantly.
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
I am reminded of the following wish of Archibald MacLeish urging us
“To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue
and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats,
is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together.
Brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold,
Brothers who know now they are truly brothers.”
Maybe, as Archibald MacLeish hoped, one day brothers of all races, religions and nations will begin to see themselves as riders on this planet together and, through holding hands, will work with each other to escape the eternal cold.
Let there be light in all men’s hearts.
Is man alone capable of bringing lasting peace to our world? I think not.
Arnold Toynbee once asked, “Who are the greatest benefactors of the living generation of mankind?” He responded,
“I would say Confucius and Lao Tzu; the Buddha; the Prophets of Israel and Judah; Zoroaster, Jesus and Mohammed; and Socrates.”
Toynbee could have named history’s great statesmen, generals, scientists and authors, yet he, and I believe correctly, named this small handful of men whose gift was to light a “lamp unto our feet and in our hearts and minds” assisting us in our eternal quest for the meaning of life, peace and happiness. From 800 B.C. to A.D. 650, these geniuses molded the great faiths of the world today.
As a student at the University of Florida, I was introduced to the world’s five main religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity. I learned their differences and similarities.
The faiths taught by these great leaders brought ethical systems that have helped man strive in his innermost quests … the search for the purpose of his life, its meaning and the journey to eternal peace.
Each religion has its golden rule:
- Buddhism –Boundless heart toward all beings
- Christianity –Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
- Hinduism – Highest yogi who judges pleasure and pain everywhere by … looking on his neighbor as himself
- Islam – Man who gives his substance to kinsmen, orphans, the needy, the traveler, beggars …”
- Judaism –What the Lord doth require of thee? Only to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God
This holiday season, I pause to ask myself the question that has been raised through the ages. How can the world achieve lasting peace? To me the answer is clear: By every man, woman and child respecting and loving each other as brothers and sisters, and following the golden rule of their respective religion.
Man, nations, governments or economies will not achieve lasting world peace alone. The direction and strength provided by Higher Authority are essential to guide the world in its search for peace. We must have understanding and respect for each other in our individual, eternal quests, recognizing we take different paths to what may be the same destination.
While the five main faiths have common features, they also have profound differences, especially between East and West. To the Western believer, an individual soul endures for all eternity … all creatures are in process of spiritual evolution extending through limitless ages of time. The Easterner sees his soul merging ultimately with a single universal soul.
In the development of the world’s newest, Eastern religions, God intervenes personally and dramatically in human events: Yahweh reaches down to rescue a band of Hebrew slaves from Pharaoh’s bondage; God sends His only begotten Son, Jesus, to earth to atone for the sins of mankind; and Allah speaks through the angel Gabriel in a dark cave to bid Mohammed to become his prophet.
These religions even have common roots: Judaism – Abraham and the Prophets; Christianity – Abraham and Sarah, the parents of Isaac; and Islam – Abraham and Hagar, parents of Ishmael. Their holy books contain similar text. Parts of the Koran resemble the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Jewish Talmud and the Torah.
In the world today, there are approximately 900 million Hindus, 376 million Buddhists, 14 million Jews, 2.1 billion Christians, and more than 1.3 billion Muslims. An estimated 1.1 billion of the world’s people are nonreligious including agnostics, atheists and secular humanists.
This Christmas morning, I will greet the day with a silent prayer to my God in celebration of His sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to walk this earth. I will seek His guidance and strength. I will give thanks for my blessings and pray for better understanding and acceptance of my fellow human beings, wishing them personal peace with their God or Supreme Being, and the strength to live by their respected golden rules.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, one day, the prayers of all men and women from different nations, faiths and religions replaced the weapons of war, chemicals, germs, rockets, bombs and guns? If love and understanding replaced hate and ignorance? If all of us on planet Earth realized our best course was to allow persons to hold on strongly to their respective beliefs and we accepted each other unconditionally?
Then we could each finally see ourselves as riders together on this Earth. Brothers and sisters who know we are truly brothers and sisters, bound together by a common search, who can only escape the eternal cold by walking hand in hand together into the warmth and brightness of a new day.
Let there be light in all men’s hearts.
May God bless you and yours and may God bless our world.
Douglas H. Thompson, Jr.
December 2005
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