i am quoting from a text conversation with a friend, dated 12 January 2005. i went through my notes of philosophical conversations last weekend after attempting to organize my room and i found this one:
"we're all significantly different beings. what may calm your heart may not calm mine.
what may be noise to you may be music to me.
but would it mean that it's not God who's calming my heart?
or singing me that peaceful music?
God doesn't speak in one voice alone.
He can be every voice you can ever hear.
if only you can admit that you do not know everything.
then you can hear Him and learn with your heart."
this was part of our discussion about religious differences. i found these words to be worth pondering upon. i've observed that we could actually be judgmental about other people without looking at ourselves. especially when we see people who belong to different religions. we tend to think that the path we're walking on is the only path and the things we believe should also be the things that other people should believe. we tend to think that we're way better than others in terms of what we believe. respect. this is a word that is continuously losing its sense, it's perhaps dying. when people would just choose to close their minds. missing the very Truth. we choose to be deaf and blind to what other people believe. we fail to see or even fail to hear what they're doing and what they are saying. war isn't really far from possible if our minds are closed.we begin to judge people according to what they believe basing it from what we believe. if it happens that we don't believe the same things or see things the same way they do, we suddenly conclude that they are wrong, that they are committing terrible mistakes. the other day, a good friend told me that discussions that would include God isn't worth discussing at all. my friend must have learned that all it does is cause trouble that could ruin relationships. i think it's a wise observation. respect, as i see it, is not similar to apathy. respect is far from it, respect isn't being indifferent. it's the awareness of other people's beliefs or views whether we agree or not. it's simply seen or experienced when we listen to what other people say or when other people listen to what we are saying. it's when we treat other people how they're supposed to be treated. in the midst of religious or cultural differences, we have the universal concept of respect.
"we're all significantly different beings. what may calm your heart may not calm mine.
what may be noise to you may be music to me.
but would it mean that it's not God who's calming my heart?
or singing me that peaceful music?
God doesn't speak in one voice alone.
He can be every voice you can ever hear.
if only you can admit that you do not know everything.
then you can hear Him and learn with your heart."
this was part of our discussion about religious differences. i found these words to be worth pondering upon. i've observed that we could actually be judgmental about other people without looking at ourselves. especially when we see people who belong to different religions. we tend to think that the path we're walking on is the only path and the things we believe should also be the things that other people should believe. we tend to think that we're way better than others in terms of what we believe. respect. this is a word that is continuously losing its sense, it's perhaps dying. when people would just choose to close their minds. missing the very Truth. we choose to be deaf and blind to what other people believe. we fail to see or even fail to hear what they're doing and what they are saying. war isn't really far from possible if our minds are closed.we begin to judge people according to what they believe basing it from what we believe. if it happens that we don't believe the same things or see things the same way they do, we suddenly conclude that they are wrong, that they are committing terrible mistakes. the other day, a good friend told me that discussions that would include God isn't worth discussing at all. my friend must have learned that all it does is cause trouble that could ruin relationships. i think it's a wise observation. respect, as i see it, is not similar to apathy. respect is far from it, respect isn't being indifferent. it's the awareness of other people's beliefs or views whether we agree or not. it's simply seen or experienced when we listen to what other people say or when other people listen to what we are saying. it's when we treat other people how they're supposed to be treated. in the midst of religious or cultural differences, we have the universal concept of respect.
1 comment:
ahhh ... and finally i gain access to my nephew's philosophical musings (thanks to ina's link!).
"what may calm your heart may not calm mine" so true! and it's not just because of who we are, but also because of the circumstance we are in at the moment. God speaks! and, yes, never in one voice.
Post a Comment