Voices

Life’s balance is as a star: on one point is Law, and Law must be upheld. If the knots of order are loosened, chaos will spill through.
Next to Law is Duty, and Duty must be obeyed. If the frame of Duty is broken, none shall weave life’s fabric.
Opposite Law is Grace, and Grace must be preserved. If the strands of Grace are unraveled, its design will be lost, and the people with it.
Next to Grace is Reason, and Reason must be retained. If the web of Reason comes unwoven, madness will escape.
Above them all is Truth, and Truth must be set free. If the wings of Truth are clipped, the voices will fall silent.

— Song of All, canto 167

For as long as any mind with the capability to ponder and question has existed, we have used our sentience to question our existence. Why are we here? What are we? How did we get here? Where are we headed? These are important questions to ask, even if we never truly discover the answers; however, before we task ourselves with figuring out the meaning of life, let us first work on improving the quality of life – for ourselves and for others around us.

How should we live? How should we treat others? How should we take care of ourselves? What should we eat? How should we spend our time? What can we do to make a positive impact in our communities, in our society, in our world? Do the rules we enforce and the laws we create promote justice and equality? We cannot call ourselves a civilized culture as long as injustice and inequality exist. Certainly these questions are related to and influenced by the grander questions of the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. We set those questions aside, but only momentarily.

It’s not enough to know what’s right: we must also do it. Responsibility implies commitment and consistency. We are creatures of habit, so we must work diligently to develop positive and healthy habits. We can’t always control what happens around us or to us, but we can determine how we react to what happens, and the nature of our response. That can make all the difference.

Not only do we have a responsibility to ourselves, we have a responsibility to each other. “We’re all connected,” as Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “to each other, biologically; to the earth, chemically; and to the rest of the universe, atomically.”

I am just one human, one small piece of life dwelling on a little drop of water floating in the infinite black. I am a child of Africa, one permutation of star stuff, existing within and as an intrinsic part of the universe. I am one of billions like me. We all share the same tiny home, and we all desire to be happy. We have a duty to embrace the solidarity of all humankind and all life on earth; opposing racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia; upholding freedom of speech and freedom of thought, freedom of religion and freedom from religion; promoting science, logic, critical thinking, literacy and proper education, and the pursuit of truth, wisdom and happiness.

People can get so entirely focused on “right vs. wrong” that we forget that we are human, and as such, we are flawed and frail, and perfection is beyond us. Everyone is on a journey through life, and experience is our teacher who accompanies us on the path. We leave behind a trail of mistakes, failures, and wrong turns as we travel, but they are only truly failures if we fail to learn from them. Taking our humanity into consideration, we should be willing to to give the benefit of the doubt, and try to see things through the other person’s eyes. “What’s going on in his head? Where’s she coming from? What questions are they asking? What problems are they facing?”

Understanding one’s own flaws and ineptitude and not being so quick to condemn other people for theirs; being able to laugh at oneself, not taking oneself too seriously; understanding that everyone is on a journey, and allowing for such a process: this is the way to peace.

The great minds of history have understood that our journey through life is one of discovery. Humankind has become adept in asking questions, finding answers, and then asking more questions to find better answers. The progress we’ve made is due to those who have dared to question, because they’re never entirely satisfied with anything less than absolute knowledge, and thus always holding one’s beliefs with an open hand, ready to discard or adjust them when evidence is presented that points to something better.

We can follow their example and never stop questioning; striving to understand how to think logically, and basing our lives on reason and the pursuit of truth. We are never entirely free from bias, so we must learn to recognize the bias each of us possesses, and wrestle to break free from its influence as we form well-reasoned answers to our questions, and solutions to the pertinent issues and problems of the day.

Truth is not contingent upon what we feel, want, hope, expect, demand, think, believe, fear, or refuse to listen to. Reality continues on, regardless of what we think about it. Either we become skeptics who ask questions in the attempt to find answers that lead us closer to truth, or we pretend that we have things all figured out and thus continue to fool ourselves. We may never have perfect knowledge or complete understanding of truth, but we can at least get a little bit closer, day by day, and in doing so, better ourselves a little more, day by day. As we question, our knowledge increases and our perspective broadens. It’s the pursuit of truth, not the conformity to comfort, that will truly satisfy our instinctive curiosity, help us find fulfillment, and give us hope for the future.