DISCRIMINATION due to religious differences, cultural practices, race, class and location has led to some of the world’s deadliest disasters. Millions have died due to man’s inability to find a peaceful solution to the things that divide us.

One can just imagine what a different world it would be if we were to share our knowledge, mathematics, science, agriculture, music and understanding of spiritual things with one another. Each day would be a dawn of new ideas, different experiences, and development.

In a world where we know so little, we believe in things that were handed down to us by our ancestors, never questioning for a moment if they were wrong. Have we ever wondered if there is, in fact, a universal creator, a Great Architect, that he or she would want us to fight with one another, seeking dominion over others, instead of sharing our knowledge and resources to improve not only our lives but the earth we inhabit?

Deep in the crevice of our understanding, we know the answer. We know we should be seeking peace rather than war, sharing instead of hoarding, and seeking ways to make life on earth better. But we are also confronted with the excuse that it is not us, we can do the right thing; but it is the others who are forcing us to be the way we are. We kill because we believe it is a way of preserving our own life. We protect our resources for fear others would take what we have away from us. We are always suspicious of the other person. In our personal relationships, we hold back on loving totally because we believe our love would not be returned with the level of sincerity we possess.

We came into the world alone and would leave alone. It is only us, that one person, who can make the change necessary for the overall picture to change.

One ought not to love, or act in a certain way, because of an assumption that others may not act in concert with us. One will, without exception, die, and one’s life can be one where it was guided by the dictates of others and society or by that which one knows is the right thing.

The right thing is not what religion teaches or what society assumes to be correct; it is what does not harm, what builds, what loves, what inspires others to various levels of happiness, and what one feels as correct deep within one’s soul.

When I think of Trinidad and Tobago, I think about the tremendous potential for this beautiful country to be among the best places on earth to live. If only we can get past our inherited distrust and seek to improve the quality of life for all of us. One can only hope.

Steve Alvarez