In my post on the good/bad dichotomy, I suggested that an appropriate alternative to considering actions and people good or bad might be to teach everyone to live in service to others. The more I am thinking about that, the more I am liking it. I sort of envision humanity as becoming a single organism by that single tenet; service to others. The blood cells carry food and oxygen to the nerve cells that think our thoughts and feel our feelings. Shouldn't each man have relationships like that with each other man. Well, in actuality, we do live in a society like that. It is almost impossible for any man to live by himself like on an island and to be happy with that situation. Where would we be without the grocer, or the guy who drives the truck or the people who grow the food, or those who produce the fertilizer and machinery to grow it? Existence alone would be a meager existence indeed. So humanity lives cooperatively. At least we live cooperatively in an external fashion. But what about internally? Why doesn't each human love the hand which feeds him? Why is there nothing personal in all this cooperation? Where is the love?
Parents bring up kids teaching them the difference between good and bad. We expect them to love the good and to disdain the bad. Yet, there is good and bad in everyone. We need to teach kids differently. We need to show them that each of us is immensely valuable to the others. We need to show people how we value them. We have to recognize their contribution to our lives and to show appreciation. As for perceived wrongs, we should ignore them when possible and forgive them when they can't be ignored.
Our daily mission should be to show love to all those we encounter each and every day. This can be done simply. For example, a driver shouted a "thank you" out of his car window in response to an effort I made to make it easier for him to pass an obstacle. Also, there was a police officer who stopped traffic to let a little child cross the street. Upon arriving at the far side the child turned and, smiling and waving, shouted a "thank you" to the officer. I think well placed 'thank yous' can go a long way towards showing our love to our fellow man. It is acknowledging that the other has been a part of your life and has made it better. It is validating the other person; saying that they have value in your eyes. And that's what people really want. They want the feedback from others that says, "You have made my life more pleasant". Rather than spend a lifetime learning the difference between good and bad and sorting everyone we meet by their attainments in these two categories, we should seek appreciation of our personal contribution to the world. We stand the best chance of seeing that appreciation if we live every minute of our lives in service to others. Thus will humanity evolve into a single organism. Life started with a single cell. Cells combined in symbiotic relationships to be able to do new and greater things move, multiply, respond to stimuli, think, and love. From cell to tissue to organ and bone to a man. Is that the end? I think not.
Men in groups cooperated to reach even greater levels of existence. Cities and countries were formed. Ideas were exchanged discussed and refined in a "two heads are better than one" atmosphere. Families, cities and countries formed and trade went on between them. Ideas cross-bred to give birth to newer and greater ideas. Now we have a world wide web to mingle our thoughts together freely. Will this be the nervous system of the new being that humanity is evolving towards? I think it will. I think that's our purpose.
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