Fight your way out- Really?

In the world of corruption, dishonesty, manipulation, struggle we are constantly either battling to align ourselves and find a way to safe existence or pose ourselves as tough and resistant. Does the integrity and individual goodness even matter? The frustration level increases when we are constantly attacked with the opposites while we exemplify values and ethics. 

Stephen Covey author of many best seller books comments, "The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty. And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too.". Very soon we want to establish this strong ideology, "you need to fight your way out" and communicate through all of our walks and talks.

Let me present the ideology of each field of science and the core message it wishes to communicate;

Philosophy says, think your way out.

Psychology says, try your way out.

Science says, invent your way out.

Communism says fight your way out.

Fascism says, bluff your way out.

Stoic philosophy says, endure your way out.

Worldliness says, entertain your way out.

Religion says, work your way out.

What we notice is that each branch of science including religion emphasizes its own philosophy, but unless we are empowered by a supernatural power that steers us to value humanity, dignity and integrity, we may just try everything as an option but can still remain unchanged. In the Bible Jesus claims, "I am the way, truth and life", and assures to transform the character and behavior of human life.

Solomon the wisest king comments, "A wicked man puts on a bold face, but as for the upright, he considers, directs, and establishes his way [with the confidence of integrity]". (Proverbs). It is a wonderful gift from God to be a human and when we start valuing, respecting and spreading the essence of love we may surely influence each other to live a life with peace and happiness and restrain pushing our way or fighting it out.

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'Que Sera, Sera'-Whatever will be, will be-How true is it?

We hear people chanting this philosophy, “Whatever will be, will be. You can't control.”. Whenever there are situations and events that includes, loss of life, loss of job, broken marriage, loss in business, accidents, there are other simpler ones which could be happenings that are heart-breaking. In such circumstances what does our mind tell us? Do we blame fate or push it on karma, or blame nature and nurture? 

The famous song ‘Que Sera, Sera' created by songwriters Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film means “Whatever will be, will be” was so famous and most of us still relate to that good old melody. The question that remains is that do we go with this popular belief system?  

‘Fate’ is the philosophy that man’s future life is pre-recorded and cannot be altered, hence the saying, “whatever will be will be.”.  The dictionary defines fate as, “Prophetic declaration, oracle, what is ordained by the gods, destiny, fate.  The principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are supposed to come to be as they are or are decreed.” 

A question of great magnitude is, who or what determines, decrees or pre-programs human life so that it cannot be altered?  The most common answer is, “a higher power.”. In some of the cultures people comment by saying whatever is written on their forehead will happen and cannot be altered. It may look very convincing but actually not true.

The results of the doctrine of fate are two-fold.  It removes responsibility for personal actions and it removes any incentive for seeking God and His righteousness. Let me refer to the recent suicide attacks in Sri Lanka where more than 250 people lost their lives and about 500 injured. Can we use this philosophy and justify the heinous attack, I am sure nobody will buy in to that ideology? If the ideology is true then no one is to be blamed. 

The Bible teaches that Man was created with the ability to make moral choices and that he is responsible for those choices. The Fall of Man was not a predetermined event in which Adam and Eve were hapless victims of a Puppet-Master, God. They knew what the result of their decision would be, and they were held accountable. We sin because we choose to. We can’t blame “Fate,” kismet, predestination, or God. Only God can transform us if we allow Him to transform us.

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The way we believe!

There are usually these two schools of thought people primarily follow when it comes to general belief system. The first premise depends upon the historical and scientific evidences, in terms of inventions, occurrences, sociological changes or movements and also in the matter of cosmology.  And then the second way of approach to any belief system is just to follow what is already there, because it may have been followed for ages by our grandparents, parents, loved ones, culture and by the majority of people.

In this matter, Aristotle claims that people form their beliefs on the basis of a combination of three factors: what he called logos, pathos and ethos:

Logos is the intellectual dimension. It is the part in us (or in the argument we are listening to) that corresponds to logic and common sense. 

Pathos is the personal or emotional dimension of belief and it is just as real as the rational part.

Ethos is the social dimension of persuasion. What we believe is hugely influenced by our upbringing, our education and the circle of friends, loved ones we find ourselves in.

Now, in arriving to a common rational this is how it should technically look like; any claim or events, belief system must have its presence verified in archaeology and be consistent and compatible historically, scientifically and as well logically. Today Easter, (resurrection of Jesus after He was crucified and rose again after three days) is celebrated throughout the world. The fact is most of us experienced people dying but resurrection is not so quite common. We can understand death as a natural event, but rising from death requires power from outside of nature.

With little exploration we find it has all the credentials in the Christian book called Bible and also finds a place in Jewish history, Roman history, and world History not merely as a mythology but a verified fact, as the way to find purpose in humanity, promising eternity and help us lead a holy & good life and be a good citizens of the country. 

There are no values and goodness beside God. We cannot achieve it by following a set of rules and rituals that is merely self-satisfying, it cannot transform us. We need God to transform each one of us in order to build a better community and a better nation.

      

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Making Right Choices!

A life without choices means someone else makes a decision about how you spend your time each day, like what you do and when you do it.  It is not easy especially standing on a crossroad and have to make a decision that can have a serious impact in overall life. Some of your decisions will be so routine that you make them without giving them much thought. But difficult or challenging decisions demand more considerations. These are the sort of decisions that involves:

Uncertainty – Many of the facts may be unknown

Complexity – There can be many interrelated factors to consider.

High-risk consequences – The impact of the decisions may be significant.

Alternatives - There may be various alternatives, each with its own set off uncertainties and consequences.

Interpersonal issues -You need to predict how different people will react.

The magnitude of each areas may differ in every case; therefore, you cannot use the same strategy you may have used the last time. There are various tools available to make good decisions in terms of business and in an organization. But what about life choices? Choices about choosing right friends, adapting a habit, respecting and valuing one another, treating people with dignity, etc.  

Making right choices every time depends upon one’s personal belief system and the core values he holds on to. The core values and moral ethics plays a major part while making right choices and deciding on things right from personal to family and in the business world. If those are properly defined and structured, then to a larger extent the choices made will make good sense and impact the consequences of the decisions made. And mind, this can only be done through the help of God who modeled rich and divine values and lived a holy life.

Shive Khera in his book ‘You can win’ remarks, “we don’t need more academic education; we need more value education. I would stress that a person who is morally educated will be a lot better equipped to move up in life or succeed than a morally bankrupt person.”. Let’s not forget this, the effects of the choices will definitely influence your family, the larger community and your workplace too. Jesus' statement powerfully emphasizes when He said “Treat others as you would like them to treat you”. Looks so simple but powerful. Good positive values are rich and sublime connected to the characteristics of God. Make Right choices and live better.

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Truth matters!

We live in a time where truth is becoming more and more relative, lies and dishonesty is becoming the order of our people’s life and industry. Too often truth is left as a philosophical issue. Philosophical issues are important to us but truth is first and foremost a matter of theology.

“Skeptics and relativists who undermine the notion of truth are like the fool who is cutting off the branch on which he is sitting. Without truth, science and all human knowledge collapse into conjecture. Without truth, the vital profession of journalism and how we follow the events of our day and understand the signs of our times dissolve into rumor. Without truth, the world of politics and business melt down into rules and power games. Without truth, the precious gift of human reason and freedom becomes license and all human relationships lose the bonding element of trust that is binding at their heart.”. O. S. Guinness

We hear politicians harping on fake assurances to get to their desired destination and sadly it looks like it is the fate of the individuals to make choices to believe them to hopeful end, but most of the time it's mere disappointment. People use the counterfeit of truth to meet their selfish ends. Let us take this into cognizance, unless the belief system is tied up to a faith system that has a clear moral framework it will not make any impact in human lives. And that could mean our children and generation will also be affected by lies that we may hold as true.

Only with truth can we stand up to deception and manipulation. In Bible, Jesus claims to be truth and life and further adds, ‘Truth shall make us free.’. Living up to our terms and creating our own moral standards, would just mean defining our own lifestyle with volatile principles that will result in disaster. Let us learn to trust God and commit to live a life of significance. As children of God the Almighty let us hold on to the high view of truth both in obedience to God and also for the highest endeavors of humanity.

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Fighting corruption at large!

Corruption is simply crime without conscience. George Richard Marek

'Corruption' is not a stranger to any of us. We have all faced corruption at some point of time.  Even children understand it better. At some form it has appeared to all of us and we have experienced it. The magnitude of corruption might have differed but the fact the corruption existed and existing cannot be denied. It is there in schools, sports, families, work place, in entertainment industry, fashion industries, political arena, religious places and the list goes on, you name the place and it is there in abundance.

Should you notice the source you will know that it starts from individuals and spreads at a larger spectrum. Personal corruption leads to corruption at large. 

If anything, we wish to do about should start from us, me and from our families. This will be possible and effective by the help of the one who knows us and our heart better than our spouses, our family members, children, friends and anybody who claims to know us better. It should be definitely none other than God. We may try to be honest and good person but to get that perfected we need a divine help and that should be a God who is interested in transforming lives and character. Let's fight against corruption of all forms and be an example to our children first and then be an influence in all the other areas.    

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Children are at risk! Worth protecting

There is no doubt that WhatsApp has become an important part of our day-to-day lives. Earlier this year (2018), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had announced that WhatsApp has 1.5 billion monthly active users (MAUs) who are exchanging nearly 60 billion messages on a single day. (Financial Express 10^th Sep-18). The news is overwhelming, isn’t it? At the end, the highest affected people group are our children. They have to balance between the extreme pressure of studies and connecting socially and protect themselves from the "Fear Of Missing Out" (FOMO)

It is said that the average teenager sends 3,400 electronic messages a month while lying in bed, and the average person checks the phone 200 times a day- that’s once every six and half minutes. Technology has altered human psychology. It affects memory, attention span and sleep cycles. This is attributed to scientific phenomenon known as Neuroplasticity. The other problem is Phantom vibration syndrome or phantom ringing syndrome. It is the perception that one's mobile phone is vibrating or ringing when it is not.

Do you Know?

The constant use of Technology has shortened our attention span from 12 minutes to 5 minutes. Technology impacts the pleasure systems of the brain in ways similar to substances. It provides some of the same reward that alcohol and other drugs might: It can be a boredom buster, a social lubricant and an escape from reality.

Over usage of technology damages, the brain systems connecting emotional processing, attention and decision-making. A new study links anxiety and severe depression with the rise in use of smartphones, tablets and other devices. The side effects of technology in the case of young adults is even worse.

  

I am sure God has a greater plan and purpose for each of us than just these frivolities. With Technology we are in the danger of purposely losing out our innate abilities, which God has divinely bestowed on us. God has put you and me in a family institution to cultivate love and find happiness in who we are and in achieving the purpose for life. If there is a God we believe, then He should have the power to transform you and restore you to the original goodness He has meant for you. Life is short. Find the purpose of life and connect to enjoy fullest potential. Help and save yourself and your children from this precarious addiction.

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References.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_vibration_syndrome