four harmonious relationships--my ultimate dream

one. i dream to have a harmonious relationship with the creator. in the ancient hebrew tradition, the proper name of god must not be uttered. this is important to me because it emphasizes that god cannot be “boxed.” to worship god means to acknowledge god to be at the highest position in my worth-list; thus, worth-ship. no attachments to persons and things… no idolatry. even our conceptions of god—whether jewish, islam, christian, etc.—cannot be the object of attachment.

the worship of matter is the most enslaving idolatry we’re facing today. this, i think, is the subtle religion of globalization. the worshippers of matter tend to "thingify" people. it becomes easy to oppress and exploit people when they are seen as things.

thus, it’s important for me to worship god—but not under the dictates of any institutionalized religion.

two. i dream to have a harmonious relationship with my ‘self.’ this is about my identity. i am a person-in-community, not a consumer-in-the-marketplace. on one hand, “self” can be understood as soul, living being, life, person. this is the relational-spiritual attribute that i share with other human beings and with the creator. on the other hand, “self” can also be understood as desire, appetite, emotion, passion. this is the basic instinct that i share with animals. when my self is merely regarded as consumer-in-the-marketplace, i’d limit my "self-ness" to the basic animal instincts of my humanity. this is the easy target of advertisements that lull and manipulates human beings.

in my perspective, the harmonious self—the wholeness of soul, life, personality, desire, appetite, emotion, and passion that characterize me as a living being—lead a person to live a full life. “full life” is not defined by what i have but by who i am in the context of relationships.

three. i dream to have a harmonious relationship with others. i am convinced that all human beings from all cultural-religious backgrounds are called to love others as neighbors and not to treat others as competitors.

in our era of globalization the other is treated as a competitor. in this view, one's relationship is usually determined by the question, "how can i get ahead?" the successful ones are described as the winners. the one's who are left behind—economically, politically, socially—are considered losers.

in my perspective, humans are called to treat the other as a neighbor to be loved as one's self. the poor must be embraced justly as an integral part of the community. the problem with humanity is not the lack of religious-philosophical teachings on how to treat others. the problem is the lack of application of the golden rule that is common to almost all of us.

four. i dream to have a harmonious relationship with nature. in my perspective, i see nature as an organic world, not merely as a mechanical world. in a mechanical view of the world, the emphasis is exploitation. if one of the parts of the machine-world is not functioning, the tendency is to replace it. hence, in globalization, the natural resources can be exploited for the present, and then later, it can be substituted with technological products and solutions.

in an organic world, the emphasis is stewardship and loving care of the creation. the creation story—that is common to jewish, muslims, and christians—tells us that the creator formed the mortal (or adam) from the dust of the ground (or adamah) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the mortal became a living being. we all came from the ground. we were named after the ground. we are one with creation. we were breathed with life. that is the story of our being alive! when the creator commanded us to subdue the earth, it means to care for, to keep, to watch, and to preserve it.

my harmony with nature is the key to effective management of my ecological and economic resources—however scarce they may be.