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Our very
wise founding fathers made a serious pact in the form of
our Declaration of Independence. That famous
document includes a reference to the pursuit of happiness.
Such
a concept is an attractive and desirable one, but I
believe it can be carried too far if one lives a
hedonistic life. I once did. Instead of
seeking only pleasure, we should, in many facets of
our lives, delay gratification and seek to become
part of a loving cause greater than ourselves.
The
pledge is an invitation to join such a cause, either
explicitly or implicitly, to help further this
goal of guiding humankind toward a heaven on earth.
. . . I deeply believe that since the dawn of
humankind each of us and all of us have a little
piece of God within us that goes beyond our human
knowledge and imagination. Expressed another
way, there's a hero inside each of us and all of
us. We are made up of mind, body, and spirit,
with spirit being another way of identifying that
little piece of God. Our knowledge,
imagination, and our little piece of God combined
with God's support will carry us to a heaven on
earth.
I
believe that God has always intended that humankind
achieve a heaven on earth, with the necessary help
of his enduring, steadfast love. All the great
religions of the world teach the Golden Rule, to
"Do unto others as we would have them do unto
us." Let's build on that.
The
ten elements that I believe are essential to our
achieving a heaven on earth are:
1.
Peace
2. Security
3. Freedom
4. Democracies
5. Prosperity
6. Spiritual Harmony
7. Racial Harmony
8. Ecological Harmony
9. Health
10. Moral Purpose and Meaning (doing the right
thing with regard to word and deed). . . .
I
believe the above ten elements and the individual
paths to a heaven on earth apply to each one of us
as well as all of humankind. [We must give]
serious thinking about how humankind can do our part
to achieve a heaven on earth. If we don't have
a worthwhile and definite destination in mind, it is
highly questionable that we will ever be able to
reach it.
Humankind
must reach out for our ultimate destiny. Each
of us and all of us must pledge, "I will try to
love and help create a heaven on earth."
We must also seek to implement the ten elements for
all of humankind. A heaven on earth. I
invite you to think about it, imagine it, dream
about it, pray about it, and ultimately do something
to bring it about.
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