I should begin this by saying that we are very spiritual people but we are not what one would consider religious. The forest, the soil, the sun and wind is closest thing to church that I'll ever know. Indoctrination is not for me however I am fascinated by and curious about religion - all religions.
My two visitors launched quickly into the purpose of their visit. They asked me: "How do you view the future? Will our world change? Do I think things will get better"? I thought this was a pretty cool line of questioning. After a moments thought I replied that I am optimistic about the future of the world. I need to be. I followed this by saying that I am mindful of the problems in our world and I do my best every day to make good choices, that have a positive impact on our world.
I assumed this was the beginning of a conversation and had hopes for some enlightened and interesting conversation on this subject but I was sorely disappointed. My response only got a cursory nod before they proceeded to part B of their mission.
They read me a passage from the bible:
God ...will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be n more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away. revelation 21:3,4 - new world translation.
They then left me with a question to think about" '"how will god change our world for the better"?
"What do you mean how will god change our world for the better, I asked"? I was completely puzzled. I clarified. "Did you mean to say; "what should WE do to change our world for the better"?
"No" they replied. "How will GOD change our world for the better". They pointed to the question written on the pamphlet to emphasize the point and quickly said their goodbyes.
It would seem that even the Jehovah witness are only at my doorstep to force fed me information without actually caring about a real human exchange of thoughts and ideas. I am experiencing this more and more in my interactions with strangers. I felt like this really contradicted the value of the message they were trying to spread.
Oh well.
Once they left I got back to work. I couldn't help but ponder this conversation as I finished gathering beans. Honestly, the more I thought about it all, the more annoyed I became. As I plunked dry beans into a bucket it struck me why this question bothered me so much. What we do here on the homestead, is with purpose. We care about the world around us. We care about the plants, the trees, the water and the air. We care about our neighbours and strangers alike. We care. We can't FIX everything but we can make a difference. I understand my responsibility and the answer is so simple to me. Treat everything better and the world will be better. What is with this passivity and the idea that some higher being is going to fix it all for us? Do we even DESERVE that?
I realized that I was being harsh as I mentally processed this question and stepped back to ponder it from another perspective. I started to wonder if people are giving up because the fight seems hopeless? Things are pretty bad out there and it can certainly feel like things will never get better. Perhaps that was the context in which this pamphlet was written. To give people hope that things will someday get better.
I just think that even though the intentions were good, they could do better. I know every day I can do better. I just bought a box of Nestle Halloween candy after fervently boycotting them for years - without even thinking. A little slip in the values I've been so steadfast in holding onto.
Why sit and wait for someone to save us? Why not evaluate what we can each do in our own lives to make the world better? We all know that good food, clean water, pure air makes us healthier. We were given all of this, we had it and for those that believe in God - he gave it to us already. We are destroying it and ourselves in the process.
We know that kindness breeds kindness and hate breeds hate. We know these things. Why not lob orbs of beautiful things out there into the world instead of revelling in the ugly and shallow?
I can't help but believe part of our lessons here on earth are to figure these things out and fix them ourselves. We need to go about righting the wrongs, each of us, as best we can simply by looking within, making better choices and inspiring change by example.
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