John Lennon sang “Imagine all the people….Living life in peace.” Guest blogger Marty Schirn imagines just that—a world that lives in harmony, peace and compassion for all.
While LOI does not endorse or promote any religion above another, LOI is happy to share any perspective that endorses the principles of love and integrity with the intention of making this world a better place. As such, LOI is proud to share the insights of Mr.Schirn’s faith, which is an integral aspect of who he is and how he conducts his life.
My name is Marty Schirn. I’m happily retired, after working at the Chicago Tribune in the Classified Ad Department.
If you want to contact me, my e-mail address is trainlover9@msn.com Please use the title of this article in the subject line, so I won’t delete your e-mail.
The following are some of my personal beliefs. You are free to agree or disagree with anything I say. It is not for me to tell you what you should or should not believe.
My View About the Past, Present, and Future
I believe humanity, like an individual, has grown from infancy, to childhood, to adolescence. We have now entered our long-awaited Age of Maturity. Mankind has turned twenty-one! We have our greatest and longest period of growth and development ahead of us!
Human society has evolved from families, to tribes, to city-states, to independent nations. I believe we are now in an age of transition from the nation-state to a spiritual world commonwealth whose borders will be the planet itself. This future world civilization will be so majestic, so glorious, that we cannot even imagine it at the present time. World peace is INEVITABLE!
Foundation Of This Future Planetary Culture
For humanity to survive and thrive as a species, there must be a solid foundation on which this future global civilization can be built. Without this foundation, a universal and lasting peace will be impossible. Here are some universal principles that all must be willing to embrace with open minds and open hearts:
1. There is only one Creator, though He has been called different names throughout history, e.g. Father, Brahma, Allah, Adonai, Ahura Mazda, etc.
2. Mankind is one family. There is only ONE race — the human race. We are all a beautiful human flower garden. Our diversity is to be accepted and appreciated, not condemned and destroyed. We will view ourselves as World Citizens first, and our nationalities second, just as we view ourselves as Americans first, and the States where we live as second.
3. Logically, one Creator can have only one religion. However, I believe God has revealed His one religion, not once, but many times throughout history. His Messengers have been the Founders of the major world religions: Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad.
Hence, I believe ALL the major world religions are Divine in origin, one in essence, equally true, equally important, equally valid, and all part of ONE evolutionary process. They are like many chapters of one book. If a chapter were missing, the book would be incomplete.
God, through His Messengers, has ADAPTED His one religion to meet the needs of each age in which it has been revealed. A universal loving God does not play favorites.
The Founders of the major world religions came to bring love, unity, harmony. Their followers have greatly distorted and misinterpreted the teachings of the Founders. As long as the followers insist that their religion is right and all others are wrong, world peace will be impossible.
4. We will strive to achieve our purpose for being created:
a) To develop a close meaningful relationship with our Creator.
b) To acquire virtues: justice, love, kindness, self-respect, compassion, sincerity, humility, patience, integrity, trustworthiness, courtesy, forgiveness, the Golden Rule, and above all: A TOTAL SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION OF PEOPLE AND SOCIETY.
This will require a complete change in how we view human nature. We will come to believe that we are noble, spiritual, loving, human beings. As this belief becomes prevalent, our behavior will change accordingly.
c) To serve God by serving humanity in ways that are beneficial and worthwhile.
d) To spiritually prepare for the next life, realizing this life is the afterlife of the mother’s womb, and the womb for the next life — a life to look forward to with hope and expectation.
5. The extremes of wealth and poverty will be eliminated.
6. Prejudices of all kinds — gender, racial, religious, class, economic, political, national, cultural — will be eliminated.
7. There will be a universal auxiliary language, either chosen or invented, in addition to our mother tongues.
8. Religion and science will be in total harmony and agreement. Science without religion leads to materialism and destruction. Religion without science degenerates into superstition.
9. Education will be universal and compulsory. Every human being has the right to be educated.
10. People will have the right to investigate truth for themselves and reach their own conclusions, rather than blindly following what they’ve been taught.
11. Women and men will have equal rights and privileges.
12. There will be a universal system of weights, measures, and currency.
13. This future world society will be a federation of nations, just as the United States is a federation of States.
14. The borders of all nations will be agreed upon. If one nation arises against another, ALL the nations of the world will arise and put down the aggressive nation, restoring peace.
15. The watchword of this world culture will be “unity in diversity,” not uniformity.
Is This Idealistic Or Realistic?
This may sound like a utopian scheme. And, as I see it, it is very realistic and achievable. I’m not saying it will be easy. It will be very difficult to achieve and will take centuries of pain and growth. But how else is humanity going to survive and thrive on our planet? How else are we going to go forward and achieve technological and spiritual greatness? How else are we going to totally heal, individually and collectively?
As I see it, the only other option is for us to continue doing what we are doing now. It’s not working! Indeed, it’s getting worse.
Twin Processes
I see two simultaneous processes occurring on our planet at this time in history. Both processes affect each other; both are increasing at an accelerating rate.
The first process is disintegration. Disunity is the disease of our time. All the countless problems we face, extremely grave though they are, are merely symptoms of this increasingly destructive disease.
People all over the world are sincerely trying to the best of their abilities to resolve these problems. But because people are not working together in unity, they arrive at conflicting solutions. This brings even greater disunity.
The second process is integration. Unity is the Spirit of this New Day! Due to transportation, communication, trade, finance, and many other factors, all the nations of the world are irresistibly becoming increasingly interdependent. No one has the power to stop this process, just as no one has the power to stop the rising of the sun. In a world of interdependent nations, the good of the part can best be reached through the good of the whole.
How Will This Future World Commonwealth Come About?
A friend once said, “Cheer up! Things are going to get worse!” If we take two pieces of steel, and heat them hot enough, they fuse together. I believe humanity is being brought to its knees in the heat of suffering.
It’s unfortunate that humanity stubbornly refuses to come together in unity and harmony. The heat of suffering has not become hot enough. Death is birth: we can’t have one without the other. We are experiencing increasingly severe labor pains, as present-day society collapses, and humanity is birthing.
As I see it, when human suffering has become so severe that all the rulers and peoples of the world realize that we have no choice but to come together just to survive as a species, we will begin, unwillingly at first, but more willingly as time goes on, to unite and resolve all our problems.
At first this will be a political unity of the world. Then over time will come the reconstruction of mankind based on its oneness, and ultimately the spiritualization of the masses, leading to the fusion of all peoples into one organic body, united just as the limbs and organs of the human body.
Welded together in common suffering, all will embrace each other as brothers and sisters, spiritually united. How beautiful such a diversified world society will be, just like different colored flowers of one garden. Each nation will continually offer its own unique contribution to this federated global system.
Human beings will happily proclaim, “I’m proud to be a World Citizen!” “God bless humanity and Planet Earth!”
I believe the United States will have a special role. It will lead all nations spiritually! But for this to occur, our nation will have to go through a painful 180 degree turn. Right now, there’s a saying that accurately reflects who we are: “The whole world watches America, while Americans watch television.”
This long, thorny, difficult, painful global process will result in the long-awaited Kingdom of God on earth, prophesied in all the Holy Books of all the religions of the world.
Source Of My Beliefs
I wish I could take credit for all the above. But I can’t. My beliefs come from the teachings about unity and harmony from Baha’u’llah (1817-1892), Founder of the youngest of the major world religions, the Baha’i Faith. Here are some quotations from the Writings of Baha’u’llah that relate to this most exalted theme:
“The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
“No power can exist except through unity.”
“Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”
“Close your eyes to racial differences, and welcome all with the light of oneness.”
“All the Prophets of God proclaim the same Faith.” (The word “Prophets” refers to all the Founders of the major world religions.)
“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
“The whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy.”
“Soon will the old order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.”
“These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the Most Great Peace will come.”
If you’re interested in learning more about the universal teachings of Baha’u’llah, go to www.bahai.org and www.bahai.us
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