RESOLUTION 2009

It is that time of the year again when we make resolutions for the coming year. The only problem is that some of us realize we are pledging the same resolutions we made for the past year. Whether it concerns the end of our smoking or drinking habits, a new job, better behavior, or bigger matters such as world peace and the end of poverty, most of us find ourselves making recycled declarations tonight. Champaign, of course, brings out the better of us!

However, I would like to take this opportunity to make a New Year resolution for those who see the whole process of wish-making as a waste of precious time they could spend preserving their lives. The people of Somalia have resolved to remain silent and hope that the New Year will be quiet. We have sworn Never Again, but the people of Darfur no longer care what we swear. The dwellers of the dusty quarters of Afghanistan will throw no ball or fireworks. My resolution is not to think of Baghdad tonight. I get this gangrene whenever Iraq is mentioned. We all know how impossible it is to end a year without a showdown in Palestine. Yes, they know you won’t see anything beyond the discount in the gift shop.

The people of Northern Uganda do not know it’s already a New Year. They have no time to sleep; they cannot know that the Old Year has passed and a New Year has come. It is all a very long day for them. Let’s make different resolutions tonight, then. Let us resolve that by this time next year, we are not repeating the same wishes we are yelling tonight. We must also remember to wish for those who cannot wish tonight.

My New Year resolution is that you will begin to care for those who are struggling to preserve their lives all over the world. Let us wish for tolerance, love and peace in this New Year!

Skidmore We Rejoice To Sing Thy Praise!

Life has been particularly beautiful these past few days. I have been mostly reconnecting and coming into contact with my past lives. I passed through New York City where I attended the tenth anniversary service of Humanity in Action and spent some moments with Liat and other recent Skidmore graduates of my class year. It was nice to share stories with members of my grade who are also trying to create a niche in the so-called Real World. I enjoyed the words of consolation and hope for what the most recent public parlance refers to as ‘bailout.’

I am now at Skidmore where the reconnection is even better. It has been very exhausting trying to update everyone on my most recent activities, but it is a pleasure to be at home. In the life of a professional vagabond, home is where friends are. When I walk around Skidmore, I relive four years of toiling hard and ripping the most of the opportunities I was granted.

I am giving a public lecture on Thursday at 7pm in Ladd 206 relating to African development. I hope to share my two-penny worth of knowledge with my eager friends here. I have done quite a few public speaking, but at Skidmore, I am guaranteed love even when I blunder. I shall endeavor to give love in return!

AMO, ERGO SUM

We know how to use love, but most of us do not yet know how to love. This simple word has been the puzzle of most pundits, poets and philosophers since time immemorial. The fundamental question on my mind is whether love of one’s wife should be the same as love of one’s child, one’s friend, one’s enemy, other animals and God. Is this four letter word the same when applied to any one of the various entities or should we make distinctions?

I do not think the meaning of love is universal, just as we do not onto our wives as we do onto our enemies, who we must also love in accordance with most scriptures. But what matters is the fundamental basis of love: lack of hate, no prejudice, compassion, altruistic, respect for the other, and the capacity to share in the joy and pain of others.

If one were to love the Gandhian way, their heart would be incapable of any distinctions among the beloved. If we are to be lovers of God, his options would be either to remain alone or make the whole world a beloved. That is to say that there is no distinction between love for God and love of the world. Since we do not see God, at least not physically, as far as I know, is it then possible that it makes sense to love each other as we would love a god?

It is written in the Bible that we should love our neighbours as ourselves, which in essence means we shall not not love ourselves. Therefore selfishness is a virtue…to love ourselves so much that we are willing to love others as much. Is it then possible that we could over come many fears by simply loving? Gandhi held a firm conviction that we could convert our greatest enemies by love. This idea resonates the turning of the other cheek and letting the coat thief have thy cloak too.

No matter what your beliefs or ideals, learn to love; you shall no longer need any other commandments. For J.C. himself said that love is the greatest commandment of them all. While we might not know exactly what the word means, in Gandhi’s words, love can make a friend of even a sworn enemy. So, as you face your battles in life, remember to wear the armor of love...for that alone shall protect you.

Poverty

Allow not yourself to be poor
A degrading key to misery’s door
It sucks the man in human
And leaves the soul in demand

Lord, if I desire to be poor
Let not your light shine at my door
But if this be not my fault

Punish me not by default

SERVANTS OF THE EARTH

Indentured servants of the earth
Loving it as a whole
To let it serve all as one
And take only as needs be
What blessings it has to offer
For all of humanity

World Peace

A friend of mine asked me recently whether I believe that World Peace is really possible. I responded in a very jovial manner that I was not contesting for Miss Congeniality, but I love peace. In any case I took the question very seriously because apart from those contesting for miss this-and-that beauty pageant, even our politicians and nongovernmental organizations seem to chant World Peace whenever the opportunity presents itself. I have used it a few times…we all do every now and then; I mean the good guys.

Do I believe World Peace is possible? I have too much faith in humanity not to believe that we are capable of peace just as we are capable of evil. However, we must not equate world peace with an absence of skirmishes; we cannot survive without little misunderstandings that can lead to a disturbance of the peace. My hope is that in a peaceful world, we would be capable of finding humane solutions to our problems.

People often cite heartless brutes like Hitler to make a point that humans are not all that good. Point uncontestable, but we must also remember that while Hitler was on his mission to extinguish whatever was not Aryan, a slim fellow named Mahatma Gandhi was on a mission to unite the world with love even for one’s enemy. My point is that world peace remains impossible because not many of us believe in it. Evil doers are often determined to achieve their aims, while the good give up all too easily in the face of bigotry.

Ghandi teaches us that in order to achieve the purest anarchy, which I choose to call World Peace, we must be willing to offer love for hate, because ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.’ The Bible offers similar instructions when Jesus asks us to turn the other cheek when slapped in one, and offer our coats when our cloaks are snatched away. Some might think this is impossible to do, but think of a society in which everyone is willing to follow these instructions. We wouldn’t have to worry about getting slapped or thieves taking our cloaks away.

So World Peace is not impossible, but we have to be willing to make concessions for one another. But I must acknowledge that we have to use other channels towards the ultimate goal of World Peace. We must seek equal rights, justice, and a socialist ideology that make each of us think that our lives are incomplete if others must suffer to make us happy. Thus I admonish every Miss America to change their dreams as of now into a quest for equality and justice for all. I bet you will earn the crown.

HOPE

Hope brings forth night
And the break of dawn
Cock crows the morning
To the start of day
Even those without plan or chore
Hope brings courage at dawn
To the lowly wretch
As fall flowers blossom in spring
So too may we smile
As stars someday will shine
Even on the wretched divine