Can We Make The World A Better Place? Just Do These Two Things

Pandemic, war, racial discord --- it would be an understatement to say we are living in troubled times. But I'm old enough to remember polio, the Viet Nam war, and the assassination of Martin Luther King. In grammar school, I recall honoring our flag each morning as our class recited the Pledge of Allegiance and we identified ourselves as one nation under God. Thankfully, I still have the privilege of reciting that pledge at our monthly Fire Commission meetings at East Lake Fire Rescue. But, if we are truly one nation under God as the pledge affirms, why is life such a brutal struggle with conflicts, disease, and hate?

I've given presentations and talks to church and business groups throughout the United States and Canada on family and business issues. Many years ago I was invited to Pensacola, Florida, to collaborate with Admiral Jack Fetterman at the Naval Air Station and then Mayor John Fogg as their city experienced the devastation of abortion clinic bombings. Sitting in several meetings with residents and formulating a plan to address the violence, one middle-aged woman stood up and had the courage to ask, "What do you think God wants us to do about all of this violence?" In the end, the city focused on implementing and living by a set of core values that they believed would heal their community and create a more collaborative and compassionate city.

As I journeyed home to the Tampa area, I couldn't get that question out of my mind: "What do you think God wants us to do about all of this violence?" It's certainly a question we should be asking ourselves today, but it is also a question that Jesus already answered during His public ministry when He said, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

Nearly 25 years ago I wrote my first book, Near-Life Experiences: Discovering New Powers for Personal Growth. It was based upon my own journey of having died when I was born, being baptized in the delivery room, and then being brought back to life by the physicians and nurses. I defined a near-life experience as any event in our lives which presents an opportunity to engage our values, intellect, emotions and will for the purpose of linking the person we are with the person we are capable of becoming. So, from my perspective, Jesus gave us the two great commandments as a means to honor the gifts we have received, being born as a child of God, by loving Him unconditionally, and secondly, to make the world a better place by respecting and celebrating the special gifts He has given to all of His children.

Of course, the skeptics will say, there is evil in the world and people choose to do bad things. You'll get no argument from me on that assertion. But, honestly, do you believe that the majority of people in our country, our one nation under God, do a self-inventory at the end of their day and ask, What did I do to love God today with all of my heart, soul and mind --- and what did I do to love my neighbor as myself? In my opinion, if everyone did, the world would experience a transformation unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes.

God understands that we're not perfect. We are all imperfect sinners, including me. But He graced us with those three immeasurable gifts: our intellects, emotions, and wills. We can think. We can feel. We can choose. And when we make the choice to live every minute of our lives by the two great commandments Jesus entrusted to us, I believe that our world will experience an increase in harmony as we exercise our vocations as instruments of His peace.