Disrespect and hatred are rampant. Brother is set upon brother.

We have awful fiery weapons that can wipe homo sapiens and many other species off the face of the Earth. The industrial and technological (e.g. communications, transportation) changes of the last 200 years has turned civilization — the way people live with one another — upside-down.

Most of us toil for our daily living — food, shelter, family. This has always been true. We have always had some kind of friction among ourselves (based on lots of “ordinary” things — the stuff of stigma, such as mental health, religion, economic class).

We are learning how small our Earth is — and how large. Before all these changes very few of “us” knew anything about “them.” Now our communities are virtual Towers of Babel, with different languages represented in our schools. But we let the old defensive barriers control too much of our lives and thinking.

It is time for us to beat our swords into plowshares and remember the Beatitudes. Now is the time for us to work at creating heaven here on earth. And, please, my otherwise religiously or philosophically trained friends tell me what you were taught you about our world and creation.

Now is the time to treat our neighbors as ourselves and be thankful for all our blessings. And, remember, one’s self is all millions upon millions of people have. Living our lives in dignity and peace is what just about all of us want and strive for. The seven deadly sins (greed is one of the big ones) will be the downfall of us all, the benefactors of this big blue ball called Earth and the heavens that surround it.

We must learn to work together.

Priscilla J. Jenkins

Winthrop

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