Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash
Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash Issue:
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate—to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” [1]
“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.” [2]
“The whole aim of the present crisis is to shift the focus of human awareness out of the material aspect of living—into the consciousness of the Soul. . . It is against this transference of emphasis that the Forces of Materialism are fighting. For this reason, humanity is swept into a vortex of conflict and the issue depends upon the clear thinking, wise speech and selfless intent of the world disciples, working in collaboration with all the forces for good in the world today, doing their duty as citizens of their own country but cultivating ceaselessly and unrelentingly a world-consciousness.” [3]
“Imagine, just for a moment, what would happen if the entire world thought and acted as if everyone else were themselves.” [4]
Some activists are using constructive resistance to build the world they want to see based on desired values and principles. Their strategy to transform our society from a destructive path to a sustainable future is taking two simultaneous tracks: they are protesting what they don’t like and building what they do want. This is a positive way for communities to work together to solve local problems and meet their basic needs. [5]
As Homelessness in the United States increases, the National Homelessness Law Center fights hard to hold the U.S. accountable in prevention of homelessness. The heart of their “Housing Not Handcuffs” campaign focuses on solving the problem by ensuring access to housing, education, health care, employment, income, and other opportunities vs. criminalizing homelessness which costs more and is ineffective at solving the problem. [6]
Our housing crisis is a symptom of America’s wealth—and its indifference. Homelessness in the United States is the most extreme manifestation of a broader housing crisis. Even in the fat years before the coronavirus plunged the economy into recession, millions of Americans struggled to pay the rent, particularly in prospering coastal cities. The federal government could render homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring. Congress could shift billions in annual federal subsidies from rich homeowners to people who don’t have homes. [7]
“The time has come when we cannot just rely on others to make the world a better place—each one of us has to do our bit by becoming more aware of our personal responsibility to be kind.” [8]
“Train up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” [9]
“We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us, and make us kinder. We always have the choice.” [10]
In an article on how to rewire your brain to be more kind toward others, Steven Handel states that kindness starts as a thought but ends as an action and having good intentions is the first step. [11]
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him . . . We need not wait to see what others do.” [12]
“The person with a secular mentality feels himself to be the center of the universe. Yet he is likely to suffer from a sense of meaninglessness and insignificance because he knows he’s but one human among five billion others - all feeling themselves to be the center of things - scratching out an existence on the surface of a medium-sized planet circling a small star among countless stars in a galaxy lost among countless galaxies. The person with the sacred mentality, on the other hand, does not feel herself to be the center of the universe. She considers the Center to be elsewhere and other. Yet she is unlikely to feel lost or insignificant precisely because she draws her significance and meaning from her relationship, her connection, with that center, that Other.” [13]
“The truth is that a ‘calling’ is not about what you are producing, but what God is producing in you. When we get outside of our production mindset, we’re able to look at what it means to ‘bear fruit’ with fresh eyes. This phrase does not refer to our own good deeds, but about the fruits of the spirit that God cultivates within us.” [14]
“But be not discouraged; someday a real musician may appear on Urantia (earth), and whole peoples will be enthralled by the magnificent strains of his melodies. One such human being could forever change the course of a whole nation, even the entire civilized world. It is literally true, ‘melody has power a whole world to transform.’ Forever, music will remain the universal language of men, angels, and spirits.” [Some say that Van of Urantia is that musician.] [15]
Van’s CosmoPop® music is spiritual vocal music that addresses the sufferings of our times and gives hope for a better world to come. [16]
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” [17]
In the 1990s, Van of Urantia coined the phrase, “One God, One Planetary Family” and he continues to teach that there should be no borders anywhere on earth; that we are all planetary citizens—in actuality one planetary family. [18]
[1] doonething.org/heroes/emerson-quotes
[2] Plato, The Republic, 380 B.C.
[3] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalization Of The Hierarchy, 1957
[4] The Diamond Cutter, by Geshe Michael Roach
[5] alternet.org/activism/after-we-stop-machine-how-do-we-create-new-world
[6] housingnothandcuffs.org
[7] nytimes.com/2020/05/15/opinion/sunday/homeless-crisis-affordable-housing-cities
[8] lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/29-ways-to-carry-out-random-acts-of-kindness-every-day
[9] The Bible, Proverbs 22:6 KJV
[10] An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life by the Dalai Lama
[11] theemotionmachine.com/how-to-rewire-your-brain-to-be-more-kind-toward-others
[12] Mahatma Gandhi
[13] M. Scottt Peck, A World Waiting to Be Born: Civility Rediscovered, 1993
[14] relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/you-can-change-world
[15] The Urantia Book, 44; 1, 15
[16] globalchangemusic.org
[17] The Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV
[18] vanofurantia.com/articles To Achieve Cultural And Religious Unity In A One-World Government Outside Of The Control Of The 1%, A Global Spiritualution Is The Only Answer, 2012