The Age of Wisdom

[Originally written May 14, 2006]

All my life, I've come across people who claim that their “sins” can be forgiven if they truly repent and ask God for “forgiveness”. What truly humors me is the fact that, so far, almost every one of these "believers" is reaching the end of their lives and had a youth that is filled with unmentioned atrocities toward the preaching of their own religions.
I've seen many people that preach and talk about God and His divine plan, His kindness and His forgiveness, His promises of Heaven and Eternal Life, and His punishment and Hell; however, who gives these characters the qualifications, to "spread the word", is still a mystery. How does one qualify to become an “Enforcer of God’s Commandments”? How does one become an enforcer, who stops and restricts others from doing things that once were part of his own life, or a messenger that forbids everyone from pursuing all the things that he or she pursued through out his or her life? These are the same things that they once possessed, but now they want others to give them up in the name of God.
Just because someone can memories a few lines from different scriptures, it does not mean that they qualify to lead anyone. Unfortunately, I do not see any human being on this planet that can carry a certificate or a degree that says, “This individual is ‘forgiven’ from all his sins and is qualified to lead others toward the path of righteousness”.
I can accept and understand that with age comes wisdom and I believe that God has planted the "seed of wisdom" within all of us which is meant to grow. I understand that it takes a bit of time for that seed to grow into a fruitful tree and guide us toward the "eternal life of truth and happiness" and to remove the blinds from the eyes of humanity so that we can see the truth as clearly as humanly possible. However, I fail to understand why individuals, who claim to have reached the "age of wisdom", cannot comprehend the notion that everyone needs a great amount of time, in order to have a better understanding of God's given life and what it has to offer.
Among many others, one of the most valuable gifts that God gave humanity is the ability to make a choice when it comes to “right” and “wrong”. With out this ability and the sense to differentiate, there will not be much difference between angels and human beings or even animals and humans. Quite frankly, there will not be a purpose for humanity to be considered the ultimate creation without this ability. If this choice is so important and valuable that without it humanity is incomplete then why do these “old timers”, who cannot stop from preaching the younger generations, fail to understand and accept that?
In the beginning, human beings are dependent on the “conditioning” from a “source of information” that is designed to guide them. This source of information programs and transforms the “shell of flesh and blood” into an "individual" of certain believes and faith, leading this individual toward an unknown future with restrictions and a set of instructions. When someone is raised to be a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, or a Buddhist, it becomes his or her set of instructions or in other words “religion”. However, this programming and this conditioning are only effective if that individual is bound to them and only to them; he or she will remain true to these “teachings” if he or she is never introduced to any other source of information that can influence his or her mind. But once that individual is unleashed into this world that offers so much more than what he or she was raised to believe, he or she will use the “conditioned wisdom” to qualify and disqualify these sources and its information. As soon as that individual finds something that makes more sense to him or her, he or she will use his or her “ability to choose”.
Is it wrong to use your own judgment to make a choice when it comes to practicing a religion? Is it really that bad that God-given “wisdom” is being used to redirect the process for selecting a method of His worship? There are many questions that are attracted toward this natural process of human being’s psychological and spiritual development; however, it’s unwise to even consider that this process of human development can be restricted to an absolute path which is not suppose to change or will not be allowed to change. This process is what leads the individual to test different concepts and analogies before finally committing to one of them, if not many. This is the same process of human development which has been guiding humanity toward its present advancements in technology and the quality of human life. If God did not intend human beings to develop in this manner, than He would have ended life on this planet a long time ago.
To some extremists, many individuals, that are diverting from “the path”, have committed extreme atrocities and "sins" that are punishable by “religious laws”. What intrigues me is the reasoning and techniques they use to justify their anger and their actions. If everyone follows the same old theory that “All is well that is done in the name of God” then anyone can commit any crimes and atrocity against humanity without punishment. All they have to do is say, “God told me to do this and I obeyed my Lord” and that should be enough for the man made authorities. Who is making more sense now? Someone who uses the name of God to dictate his or her own will? Or someone who was peacefully looking for an answer or a path that leads him or her toward the light? There is a reason why this concept does not make sense and there is a reason why “terrorism” cannot be justified by using the name of God. But no one needs to explain this concept. It’s the matter of having common sense to know that only God can make the decision about someone’s life, not the imperfect human.
Does it matter what source is being used to guide an individual toward God or the path of righteousness? If a child is raised to believe that there is no God then he will mature with that understanding and will not follow or understand any other concept. On the other hand, if a child is raised to believe that even thinking about harming someone is a sin in God’s view then that person will continue to prevent him or her self from doing so. However, these two scenarios are only possible if these two subjects are never introduced to anything other source of information and in today’s “global village”, it’s simply not possible to restrict someone from absolutely everything else. And today’s youth is up to date with everything that is happening in this world. Unfortunately for the “old timers”, preaching without practicing does not make a good and solid example for the young generation to follow. Technically, it’s not even their fault because they were once part of the same dominant conditioning and the process of selecting their paths; however, it’s easy to forget how long it takes for the seed of wisdom to grow into a tree and unfortunately, even with their trees of wisdom, they have not been able to grasp the simplest of logic that it takes time to understand the clues that leads toward the path of righteousness.

How long will it take for me to start looking for that path? Only God knows that answer. Most probably when I have more answers to solve or understand the puzzle that we all call life. But even then, if I have found the true path toward the eternal glory that awaits me, I wouldn't be caught preaching the ones that aren't ready for it. I wouldn't want someone to look at me and wonder the same thing I wonder when look at "them".

Master and the Slave

[Originally written May 02, 2006]

Man has become a slave of his own creation. Today the technology is far beyond the comprehension of human beings who lived over two hundred years ago. Back then, the only means of communication was either a face-to-face conversation or a hand written letter. The invention of Morris Code came into existence and raised 'long distance communication' to a whole new level. After the Morris code, came telegraph, telephone, radio and then television-- the world became the 'Global Village'.In today's world, thanks to the advancements in communication technology and other modern sources of information, no one is out of reach and no is too far away from publicly available information. Inventions like cell phone and internet has made it possible for human beings to be connected and informed at all times. Communication has become convenient and is evolving every single day. However, this convenience has made the users of this technology dependent on it. Without a doubt, these inventions have become part of the social structure. Those who are constantly using this technology and this convenience are some what slaves to it. To them, just the idea of giving it all up or being temporarily disconnected from others, is unsettling. One this journey to advancement, man has created its own master.

What I learned today...

[Originally written April 24, 2006]

The day turned out to be quite interesting and yet not as much as I would have hoped for. Today, Kasha, our old English Teacher Eileen, and I went out to eat an early dinner or should I consider it a late lunch. It was interesting seeing Eileen outside work considering that it wasn’t much different.

After attending my classes and dealing with the strange schedule, as it was for today only, I waited outside Eileen’s class and along came Kasha. Apparently, we were the only two students that showed up for this invitation, considering that in the end of the class there were 6 people left. We went outside for a while and waited, while conversation carried its weight and kept us occupied, half an hour later, we decided that it is best if we just start moving toward the meeting place and let the others catch up with us there. Needless so say, we were the only three people in the pub at 4:00PM.

It was quite interesting to see Kasha and Eileen outside the class rooms and the cafeterias and the parking lots of this Adult School, especially when I have never really had any other conversation with them without involving education or future career plans. I was assuming that if an unorthodox conversation did spark, we would probably be talking about general things in life and how we were coping with it. But this was not the case in this particular meeting. The topic, somehow, always remained on education, which would have been alright if I did not need a bit of a break from that particular subject of discussion.

We talked about many things and most of them, even thou intrigue me a lot, weren’t really giving me a reason to stay there and enjoy my meal. However, even in these uncalled-for topics of discussions and over-done Education related blabbering, I learned something new about both the individuals. I learned how much Kasha prefers to read things that deal with the reality of life and how she does not consider investing her time in humoring her self with Sci-fi novels. I learned how Eileen is dealing with her 15 years old daughter, who can easily be considered a prodigy if only she invested a bit of time and effort in her education, while managing to keep things going and not piling up one after the other, like in many cases.

What I learned is somewhat unrelated to the conversations that we had but it did give me an insight and a better understanding of how other people have managed to remain the way they are or to change them selves to improve the quality of their lives. It created a bit of clarity about what to expect from life when it throws its rough and cold arms around you and hold you in a tight grip which, in many cases, is hard to break. But, most of all, it affirmed my belief in the lesson that I’ve learned from so many other events in my own life—Never ever give up on life. It is valuable if you accept it and its worth a lot if you value it.

The Judgment Train

[Originally written April 22, 2006]

Is there anyone out there who has perfect sense of judgment? Especially when it comes to people? Or anyone who thinks he or she knows everything that there is to know about people to pass a judgment and say he's right and he's wrong or she's right and she's wrong about something or someone?

Anyone? Really? That’s just as I expected.

There isn't a God forsaken soul on this planet that can claim to know it all... There isn't a Human Being who can tell you straight up what to expect from others... It's in our nature to exceed our own expectations whether it be in a positive manner or negative... and those who don't get it ... well... go see a therapist if that helps... because it's as simple as it gets.

According to Christian religion, God created Adam and Eve and rented them Eden to live in... They were good people who took care of the place and didn't make a lot of mess. They didn't break any rules that were set up by God and God was happy. Time went by and everything was the way it was suppose to be but then... out of no where... man, the ultimate creation, got swayed by curiosity and tasted the forbidden fruit... God found out what happened and in anger, kicked out the couple...

So what happened next? The world happened next. Weren’t you paying attention?

If men and women were suppose to be perfect then yes, I can force myself to agree that there is a possibility that someone out there could be perfect in judging others and might possess the miraculous power to make the right prediction about human beings. But that can only be a fantasy and God’s Ultimate Creation isn't perfect at all; and to expect anyone to possess perfection is another proof of the Human Imperfection.

It is in the best interest of every living thing on this planet to stop this judgment train. If there is no station where it should stop then technically there shouldn't be a train and the station where it started its journey in the first place.