Programs For Education

January 2010 ~ As we conclude another holiday season with all its’ secular and religious traditions, life on this beautiful planet continues to head in odd, albeit predictable directions. Every year we wish each other “Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year”. It can be very heartwarming and rejuvenating ~ when our most caring thoughts and best wishes for one another come true. But as we reflect on the current economic situation and some of its causes, coupled with the peculiar events over the last decade, can they?

     Yes, of course they can! However, it will call for a paradigm shift in how we think. It begins with a heightened awareness of our unifying individual spirituality. First, we must set aside our different religious beliefs, cultural and economic origins. If this is new or not to you, I recommend a book by Sanaya Roman aptly titled Spiritual Growth. The wisdom expressed in it has opened up thousands of hearts and minds to wonderful ways to bring about positive change on this incredible living planet we call Earth.

     This “new” way of thinking may very well result in each of us examining the news that the reporters read to us with a critical eye. That is a good thing. After all, each of us has the ability to identify what is true versus illusion using reason. But sometimes we need a technique to “clear the air” from mindless media distractions in order to do so. I believe, for instance, that the Hegelian-like pattern of aggression and armed conflicts throughout history, brought about by both real and/or manufactured religious, cultural and political differences can be curtailed. But only if we all use our God given ability to stand back, think thoughtfully and critically for ourselves, by ourselves. 

     Our most competitive Liberal Arts colleges have long expressed that it is not their purpose to “train” students for a specific career. Their mission, instead, is to prepare them for a myriad of careers or graduate school by means of a broad liberal arts and sciences curriculum. Through this pedagogic effort students will presumably learn how to gather accurate information, think critically, make sound judgments and comport themselves using reason, ethics and, hopefully, common sense.  Both expository and creative writing are championed as well as oral discussion and debate. That, they espouse, will prepare them to enter society and accomplish anything their hearts desire. And in so doing, contribute to the ‘family of Man’ in their own unique way using the natural talents with which they were born.      

      If that were true, then why is the world in a state of perpetual conflict? Look up the definition of insanity. Why are we in Iraq or, for that matter Afghanistan? Did the mass homicide that was perpetrated on our soil in late summer of 2001 put us on this destructive road? The answer is yes. But the real question is “Why?” The answer is out there, or more accurately, in there! 

     This next year, I hope we all continue to strive to look within ourselves to find a path that will lead each of us to a heightened spiritual awareness. It is by this process that we will awaken and illuminate the real truths. One truth I have learned is that “fear” is the most effective weapon the unseen forces have, not so called ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Interestingly enough, it was none other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”  I now know what he meant, do you?

Warm best wishes for optimal health, Love and happiness in 2010 and beyond,

 Eric