Newspapers remind us everyday that all is still not well in the world today. It continues to be plagued with corruption, killing of innocent people, abuse of children, atrocities on weaker sections by the strong and mighty, intolerance, greed, and so on. Our experience shows that no law has ever been foolproof. When we make a strict legislation, it is misused to victimize innocent people, and when we make a lenient law, its many loopholes result in the impunity of culprits. Striking a balance between the two possibilities has not only been difficult, but impossible. Besides, we have checks and balances in place in most democracies, yet highhandedness and misuse of powers by governments are a reality. Likewise, technology has made our lives easier and more comfortable, but there is no guarantee that it will not be used for destruction – the creation of nuclear weapons is a good evidence of this fact.

This means the solution does not lie in a better political system or technological advancement alone. How then can we create a better world? The answer is simple. World’s illnesses merely reflect the condition of the hearts of those who live in it, and, therefore, its healing is possible only through the reformation of their hearts.

Political systems or technology can never substitute the role of the human heart in solving world’s problems. They can serve merely as tools to restrict human beings from practicing evil desires, only to an extent and temporarily. After all, structures cannot be run by themselves, we need human beings to operate them, and therefore their success depends mainly on the hearts of those who control them and for whom they are made.

The centrality of the human heart in creating a better world indicates that God, our creator, is primarily concerned with the values and attitudes of His people. He has gifted human beings with the ability to achieve growth in structures and sciences, but only to sustain His creation until those who live in it as its stewards repent from their evil ways through the transformation of their hearts. Therefore, even as we continue to work on improving structures to ensure better living conditions, let us not neglect the need to imbibe in us good principles. Only then will we be able to transform our world.

Accustomed as we are to easy and quick information available at the click of a mouse, we don’t seem to have the patience to get in touch with God, as He is invisible and beyond human understanding.

Besides, the advancements we have made in the field of science have bred in us a false pride, which perhaps makes us very uncomfortable at the very thought of a God who is beyond our control and demands our submission. For, instead of acknowledging our insufficiency before the all-sufficient God, we rather seem to be striving to bring every part of God’s creation under human control.

Also, the holiness of God threatens our ego-centric lifestyles, which, we think, is necessary for the survival in today’s world. Therefore, we do not desire a holy God who is ‘unjustifiably’ over-demanding and unaccommodating to our desires.

Unfortunately, instead of changing our lives according to who God actually is, we have substituted the true God with a ‘God’ of our own making, in conformity to our own likes and dislikes.

Consequently, our worship of ‘God’ has become limited to mere chanting of mantras and performing of outward rituals with no inward change of the heart. The gods we have created demand nothing but wearing of certain stones, presence of certain articles in the house and visits to certain pilgrim places. Therefore, there is no sign of Godly values in our day-to-day dealings.

The rise of corruption, crime, immorality, epidemics and so on, along with a rise in ’spirituality’, confirms that we are guilty of the sin of idolatry. For, our ‘devotion’ to created gods does not impel us to forsake sexual impurity, hatred, fits of rage, selfish ambition, drunkenness, and the like. It rather allows us to sin without any feeling of guilt which is dangerous for oneself as well as others.

It’s time we realised that unless we accept and submit to God as He is, we can neither satisfy our spiritual needs nor can we have the assurance that the road we have chosen in life is safe and secure.

Many years ago a senior executive of the then Standard Oil Company, run by John D. Rockefeller, made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. On the day the news leaked out Edward T. Bedford, a partner in the company, had an appointment with Rockefeller. When he entered the office, prepared to listen to a long harangue against the man who made the error in judgment, Bedford found the head of the company busily writing something on a pad of paper. He stood silently, not wishing to interrupt. After a few minutes Rockefeller looked up. ‘Oh, it’s you, Bedford,’ he said calmly. ‘I suppose you’ve heard about our loss?’ Bedford said that he had. ‘I’ve been thinking it over,’ Rockefeller said, ‘and before I ask the man in to discuss the matter, I’ve been making some notes.’

The notes had a long list of the executive’s virtues, including a brief description of how he had helped the company to make the right decision on three separate occasions that had earned many times the cost of his recent error.

‘I never forgot that lesson. In later years, whenever I was tempted to rip into anyone, I forced myself first to sit down and thoughtfully compile as long a list of good points as I possibly could. Invariably, by the time I finished my inventory, I would see the matter in its true perspective and keep my temper under control. There is no telling how many times this habit has prevented me from committing one of the costliest mistakes any executive can make - losing his temper,’ said Bedford.

Similarly, Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, was once angered by an army officer, who accused him of favoritism. Stanton complained to Lincoln, who suggested that Stanton write the officer a sharp letter. Stanton did, and showed the strongly worded missive to the president. ‘What are you going to do with it?’ Lincoln inquired. Surprised, Stanton replied, ‘Send it.’ Lincoln shook his head. ‘You don’t want to send that letter,’ he said. ‘Put it in the stove. That’s what I do when I have written a letter while I am angry. It’s a good letter and you had a good time writing it and feel better. Now burn it, and write another.’

The key to keeping one’s temper is to let the temper cool down before it descends on someone.

Many years ago a senior executive of the then Standard Oil Company, run by John D. Rockefeller, made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. On the day the news leaked out Edward T. Bedford, a partner in the company, had an appointment with Rockefeller. When he entered the office, prepared to listen to a long harangue against the man who made the error in judgment, Bedford found the head of the company busily writing something on a pad of paper. He stood silently, not wishing to interrupt. After a few minutes Rockefeller looked up. ‘Oh, it’s you, Bedford,’ he said calmly. ‘I suppose you’ve heard about our loss?’ Bedford said that he had. ‘I’ve been thinking it over,’ Rockefeller said, ‘and before I ask the man in to discuss the matter, I’ve been making some notes.’

The notes had a long list of the executive’s virtues, including a brief description of how he had helped the company to make the right decision on three separate occasions that had earned many times the cost of his recent error.

‘I never forgot that lesson. In later years, whenever I was tempted to rip into anyone, I forced myself first to sit down and thoughtfully compile as long a list of good points as I possibly could. Invariably, by the time I finished my inventory, I would see the matter in its true perspective and keep my temper under control. There is no telling how many times this habit has prevented me from committing one of the costliest mistakes any executive can make - losing his temper,’ said Bedford.

Similarly, Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, was once angered by an army officer, who accused him of favoritism. Stanton complained to Lincoln, who suggested that Stanton write the officer a sharp letter. Stanton did, and showed the strongly worded missive to the president. ‘What are you going to do with it?’ Lincoln inquired. Surprised, Stanton replied, ‘Send it.’ Lincoln shook his head. ‘You don’t want to send that letter,’ he said. ‘Put it in the stove. That’s what I do when I have written a letter while I am angry. It’s a good letter and you had a good time writing it and feel better. Now burn it, and write another.’

The key keep one’s temper is to let the temper cool down before letting it descend on someone.