subject: President Barack Obama And The Nobel Peace Prize [print this page] After hearing President Barack Obama's speech when he won the Nobel Peace Price, I felt so motivated. Though my approach is not political; spiritually and psychologically, I felt so in line with what he was saying during parts of his speech.
President Obama said, "We can't allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another. And that's why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect."
THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN BEINGS
I could not agree more. The essence of every human being is precious and more similar then we sometimes would like to think. From some perspectives, it is simpler to look at all of the differences that we have with others. Now, I'm not nave. I know that we are different in many ways, but staying focused on the differences only keeps us viewing others as scary, dangerous, superior or inferior to us in some way.
President Obama went on to say, "We can't accept a world in which more people are denied opportunity and dignity that all people yearn for: the ability to get an education and make a decent living, the security that you won't have to live in fear of disease or violence without hope for the fuure."
SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS
Many of the spiritual and religious teachings throughout the years urge us to treat others as our friends. The Bible tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. How come we forget this? If all the teachings say that we should open our hearts, why are we so willing to stand in our own self-righteousness and do the exact opposite? I urge everyone, myself included, to look in the mirror, be honest with ourselves and notice how much or how little we make people into visions of humanity we can't embrace.
Now, it would serve all of us well to experience and challenge our assumptions. I urge you to keep up the hard work and challenge yourself by asking the following questions: What are the beliefs, feelings, judgments, and ideas that keep us stuck in our self-righteousness? Do we sometimes continue seeing others as so very different that we can't possibly understand that they have similar needs and feelings to us?
TRY THIS:
Keep a journal answering these questions and continue to challenge yourself everyday. You are worth it!
