we are the generation that is going to bring the change this world so desperately needs…we are the generation that is going to realize, on a mass scale, the disillusionment and apathy that society has, all too successfully at times, engrained into our minds…we are the generation that is going to purify ourselves and the world of these contaminating mindsets and work towards bringing a healing to the world…
we are the generation…
each generation throughout all of time has had its task to perform in the
world, just as each individual has a specific reason for being…in fact, an
individual’s mission in their lifetime is intimately connected with the task
of his/her generation…this has never been more true than today…the task of
our generation is an enormous one, though not an impossible one…we have the
job of putting the final touches on a project that our ancestors began long
ago…what is that project?…perfecting the world and readying it for the time
of everlasting peace, for the time of redemption almost every culture, religion
and spiritual path has talked about and looked forward to with eagerness for
thousands of years…sages long ago, holy, wise sages, are quoted in the Gemara
(the written-down oral Torah) as saying that while they pray for the redemption
to come everyday of their lives, they wouldn’t want to live in the days
directly preceding this time…let’s look at that again…these great, holy
sages say they hope for the redemption of the world to come everyday, yet they
wouldn’t want to live right before that time…there seems to be a
contradiction here…on the one hand, they are praying for the redemption to
come everyday, meaning literally that they pray
but what about the second part of the sages’ statement?…why wouldn’t these holy people want to live in the days directly preceding the redemption?…why wouldn’t they want to be part of the generation that brings redemption to the world?…the answer is somewhat simple…in fact, we see this answer everyday of our lives: as we drive in our cars past mega-malls and fast food chains or through crowded city streets…as we hear another story about a teenager bringing a gun to school, shooting and killing his classmates and teachers…as we read about the depletion of the world’s most precious and fragile ecosystems…as we hear about another terrorist attack somewhere in the world...as we witness yet another person get sucked into the spirit-less, soul drenching routine of society…no one in their right mind would voluntarily choose to live in these times we are experiencing now…true, the advancements of the 21st century have improved our lives to some extent…they have cured various diseases which allow people today to live much longer, hopefully more productive, lives…these advancements have also broadened our understanding of the world we live in, from the microscopic level to the universal…yet, even with all of these great achievements, humankind is probably the most sick and most confused it has ever been, both physically and spiritually…as the people in the west are gorging themselves on an abundance of food, there are people all over the world dying of starvation…people continue to lose touch with their spiritual traditions, trading in meaningful lifestyles for the ease and convenience of the modern-day…this is why the sages of long ago did not want to live in the times before the redemption…they knew it would be a time of great distraction, of great spiritual pain…they couldn’t bare to think of living in such a world…it is exactly that world which we find ourselves living in today…
so how are we going to deal with the fact that we are living in a world that the greatest sages of yesteryear dreaded and feared?…are we going to sit in our rooms and complain about it, thinking, “Why us?”…are we going to curl up into the corner into a little ball and hope that the storm quickly passes us by?…or are we going to view these times as a period of incredible potential and change, a time in which we can bring so much good into the world?…naturally, I hope we all choose this last response, for it is solely up to us to transform this world of darkness into one of light…in fact, before each one of us came into this world we might have chosen to be here at this time because we knew or were shown how incredible and important this time would be…and though we saw the hardships and despair that would plague this generation, our souls were ready for such a challenge…
of course we probably don’t remember ever choosing to be here, but we must remember that everything happens for a reason…we are not living in this time by chance…if we didn’t voluntarily make the choice to be here, then we were for sure assigned to be here…we all have something to learn from the world at this time, as well as something to teach it…we just need to realize, or remember, what these things are…once we do, and then begin to fulfill our purpose for being here, we bring redemption to ourselves and, as a result, to the entire world…
as we said elsewhere, this redemption of the individual self and of the world are deeply interconnected…one does not occur without the other…in essence, they are exactly the same thing…we need to be the generation to realize this and work towards manifesting it…we need to remember that we are the generation who has been assigned the task of making the final preparations in this world for the coming of the redemption…if we liken our task to constructing a building, our task is to put the final few bricks in place…the generations before us have done their work of laying a foundation and completing most of the construction process…however, this is not to say that our job is the easiest, or in any way less valuable…in fact, it is probably the most difficult and most valuable of all tasks…since we are so close to completing the future reality of peace (in the spiritual realm, that is) the forces of evil in the world want nothing short of destroying our hopes and our drive to finish our task, for they have nothing to gain from our success…evil will finally be laid to rest in this future world to come…because of this fact, the powers-that-be are doing everything they can to distract us from our purpose here, trying to convince us that working towards a future redemption is worthless and that one would be more content focusing solely on the physical, and ignoring the spiritual aspect of life…
is this what our generation was sent here to do? to be gluttons?…I don’t think so…while, unfortunately, there are many in our world who have bought into the idea that physical pleasure and satisfaction is the number one goal in life, we know, deep within, that this is but a wrong turn, a misreading of a sign somewhere on the path…we must always stay clear and focused as to why we are here, something that those sages from centuries ago feared even they wouldn’t be strong enough to do…to comfort us in these seemingly crazy times, we must remember that we are never given a test we cannot pass; we are never confronted with a challenge if we do not, somewhere within ourselves, possess the necessary tools to overcome it…
remember,
we are the generation that is going to change this world…with help from each
other, as well as help from the Infinite One, we will bring to fruition that
dream that people have been dreaming for thousands of years: the ultimate
healing and redemption of all of humankind, of all the world…
we are
the
generation!!