Embracing Others And Learning

In earlier times mankind grew apart from one another in developing unique cultures and inventions.

Today, these developments are discoveries ready to be absorbed and adopted.

If the individual can look not with a skeptical eye, but with learning curiosity, the individual can appreciate the layered varieties different humans have produced.

If the individual can look not through an arrogance of self, but can search for the good, the individual can find much good in others and how the cultures of others have developed.

You may currently abhor a particular religious brand, culture, societal behavior, or political ideology, but have you noticed the good and decent developments that may have produced?

These are the challenges that life throws our way.

In looking at things we may not agree with, we may actually find agreeable things, and maybe even new things that can be accepted, imitated and adopted.

These are growing and learning opportunities that life provides for us to look past our self-centered identity; the pride and arrogance we have with our specific religious brand, culture, ideology, political affiliation, etc..

The reality is that our individuality, within our respective culture, is built upon a facet of previous cultures, some having already been blended throughout the ages although we may think our cultural standards are original.

Your specific culture, whether it is eastern or western, liberal or conservative, religious or secular, is a product of earlier peoples and their cultures, value sets, beliefs... and the blending back and forth between extreme points has occurred more than once.

The blending is always happening today, now that world-wide events are broadcast as they occur.

Modern societies have adopted, by default, the good inventions, good ideas and good manners from previous societies.

And isn't this what the human experience calls for?

Adopting and absorbing what is good, eliminating and rejecting what is bad.

The lesson, and possibly arduous task for some of us, is to acknowledge the good being exemplified in others, their belief systems, their values, and being honest with ourselves and the things we hold to be 'good' yet may be not as good as what we're observing.

Or our observance of how others go about their ideas could teach us what our closely-held ideas really are.

Western / secular cultures can learn from eastern / religious cultures regarding modesty, arguments for 'rights' and 'expressions' being put aside for the moment.

Eastern / religious cultures can learn from western / secular cultures in accepting all people and granting them a safeguarded voice, despite their lifestyles being deemed unacceptable, arguments for 'religious' rules being put aside for the moment.

Who is to say that God doesn't allow certain people, certain things and certain ideas to exist to find out whether you will honor Him in all things, and will love others as you would yourself, and go as far as loving your 'enemy'?