Mark Twain wrote: “I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.” At times I think Twain got it backwards. I believe that the monkey was invented because God was disappointed in man.
This reversal of Twain’s quip is because of the oft demonstrated failings of the species, homo sapiens. The examples are legion.
- Listen to the evening news: robberies, murders, rapes, racism, and rapacious greed.
- War. Humanity has proven time again its failure to learn. So the slaughter continues unabated.
- Ruined relationships due to a refusal to forgive.
- The ongoing destruction of planet Earth’s air, water, and land.
. . . to name just a few.
What will it take to reverse the trends listed above? To flesh out my proposed answer would take a fair bit of time and print, but I firmly believe the proposition. People work hard at acting with respect and civility and care for others when aware of and developing the spiritual dimension of life. To quote an old adage: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Ignoring or denying that allows for any and all manner of evil.
Being at one with the Life Force, the Creator, the Ground of Being (call it what you will) leads to a genuine concern for all others . . . which leads to the kind of peace and harmony of which we dream.
