A conversation has the power to liberate a human being. It has the power to set free the mind from bondage. Even one exchange of ideas is able to give a new direction to the thinking of a person, or the chance of realization. Why would anyone want to do so? The real reason has to be a concern for the other person, or on a larger scale, a concern for society. When conversations emanate from such concern and are also able to provide hope to others, there is indeed the prospect of growth.
A conversation could liberate and empower if it has true powerAs we stand today, there is no shortage of conversation. Social networking platforms and websites are hubs of thought-exchange. However, it is not able to set minds free, not able to empower those who speak and those who listen. On the other extreme, the entertainment industry has so powerfully captured the realm of human imagination and ideas that it is nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. There is an even more painful realization, that we are so much more capable of imagining and desiring than what we are able to accomplish. Look around today and compare it to the world as it was even 10 or 20 years ago! Mankind has come very far. From another perspective, mankind has declined in morals and spirituality just as fast as we have come far.
The conversation is driven by compulsion and desperation
Instead of having found God and therefore hope, we have more readily found our Devil. What that means is simply this: We have succeeded in finding out one or multiple causes to use our ability for critical thought and skepticism, but we have not found sufficient cause to share glorious, trustworthy, and praiseworthy causes for conversation. The way this plays out, it brings a satisfaction that does not last. We can find satisfaction in finding out all that is wrong with our world. We talk about such things. At the end of the day, there is tiredness, even exhaustion. The next day comes and then starts another cycle of such finding out of and talking about evil. We find what we seek, and our compulsion and our desperation keep us finding these very things. We just do not know what we are to do after we have found what we seek!
It is not that those who are engaged in this searching for, finding, and exposing of “the Devil” have no awareness. In fact, there is an awareness that has become more common than ever before. The information carried over the Internet has led to one unmistakable result. People have found a preference for the imaginary world than for the real world. This abstraction of reality and glorification of what we are only yet hoping for has possessed the human mind; consequently, it has also possessed the human conversation. Our escape depends upon breaking away from either extreme and find an appreciation for what we have right now.
The present has much to offer
There is a kind of person who is willing to forgo the present in hope for the glory of the future. It is also possible that another set of persons find some glorious, elusive past and seek to re-create it in the future. In either case, there is a missing of the reality. The reality is right now, right here.
What many people fear is that if we become fully focused on the present reality, we will lose the hope for the future. Why? Is it not possible to enjoy the present and also maintain one’s strength of character, one’s moral uprightness, and one’s certainty of hope in the yet unattained future! It is possible. A person does not need to starve himself to appreciate what bread tastes like. Yes, the starvation would produce an appreciation, but such appreciation could have been possible by simply eating the bread. It is not some depravity to want bread. The depravity comes when the bread is stolen from the needy, or one eats at the expense of others. That kind of bread is detestable.
Our thinking as individuals and as a society first needs to break away from the extremes. Only then can we find balance. It is possible to be wholly committed to something, be convinced of its worth and truthfulness, and find tremendous disappointment at the end. A person or a group of people would have fully entered into the depths of a way of thinking – be it a philosophy, science, or a religion – only to discover the harm that comes from extreme thinking. We can only hope, that recognition of the harm comes before we succeed in doing actual damage. There are actions humanly possible, the effects of which are irreversible. We have such power today. Our caution and our uncertainty will protect us until the time we find absolute hope that can be shared among all.
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