Vacations! During World War I around Christmas time, 1914, a series of unofficial cease-fires occurred, and German, British, and French troops sang Christmas hymns and fraternized together. Next, consider lyrics from “Singing in the Rain”: “I’m singin’ in the rain . . . What a glorious feelin’, I’m happy again. I’m laughing at clouds, So dark up above. The sun’s in my heart, And I’m ready for love.” Last, use a vacation to become spiritually centered, and see others, not merely as drenched in rainstorms of cultural tensions, but looking by faith through these storms into the other’s spirit center.[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4843879/height/0/width/0/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”” width=””]
Thank you Jeffrey, always glad to hear from you and what you have to say!
What a treat to see you visit here, you thoughtful and original thinker, you!
How long before we realize that all of this cultural antagonism, social and economic inequality, political upheavals are the result of insufficient spiritual response to them? We must ever remember that we are incomplete, and that the stimulus for becoming complete lies in all of these materially perceived antagonistic conflicts. It should be obvious to us by now that necessity is the mother of invention, that the noble qualities that we all would like to possess are not obtained in a vacuum, but are obtained by the appropriate response to these blessings in disguise.
And the appropriate response is the response of love, forbearance, empathy, equity, mercy, forgiveness, and all of the beautiful qualities that we would love to have as a part of our characters, but feel they are forever out of our reach as long as we live this life.
We never will be truly happy until we evolve these qualities into our characters, even though a lot of times we feel that if we were just left along without those irritating conflicts, we would be happy. But such a state is impossible to achieve because we are evolving and experiencing creatures.
How long must we continue to suffer before we begin to realize the better way for dealing with these stimuli of growth and development? There is help for us, even grace and mercy, if we would turn wholeheartedly towards the source of this help, the heavenly Father who loves each and everyone of us with an eternal affection.
Dr. Perry
I find that at the core of every social, economic, or political problem are spiritual needs. I do not believe that spiritual truths are a sufficient guide to wisdom in these various areas, but I do believe that spiritual realization may be necessary before we are ready to face the challenging facts, scientifically understood, that will enable us to make the many and rapid changes that are ours to make. Each day we face a microcosm of the planet’s choice: either toward chaos or toward the spiritual renaissance.
Dr. Perry, thank you for your tireless efforts for truth, beauty, and goodness!