Gift from the unknowns

In one of my childhood days living in the village where my grandparents lived, I became curious and started wondering about the world we live in. I studied the surroundings of the place where I lived. I noticed trees, meadows, plains, fields, rivers, lakes, and a lot of plant life. I observed many different animals as well. I saw storks making their nests atop the light poles. I saw wild ducks living harmoniously in the water. I started to be curious about my own kind, about humans. 

Humans live in structures that are clearly not natural to me; they are built. They drink water from holes dug in the ground – these wells are not natural; they are built. The wonders of electricity seemed like magic to me, but it was clearly not something occurring in nature. Somehow, humans have harvested greater knowledge hidden in the natural aspect of the world and brought it to the surface, making the world more interesting. More confusing, yet better.

However, these inventions were not aligned with the ways of nature; they were not natural or ordinary compared to the rest of the living world on the planet. They were not normal. Normal would be living in caves. Normal would be hunting for food directly from nature rather than cultivating or harvesting it systematically. Normal would be to seek shelter in the darkness not sleeping comfortably in homes. Normal would be engaging in physical confrontation or fleeing from threats, rather than relying on the protection of strangers. Normal would be to maintain a constant vigilance against danger, rather than relying on established laws and a justice system. Normal would be if we get sick to die. This is a strange world. It is not a normal, natural world. 

This world was built, constructed by someone we cannot see anymore. Many people sweated, worked, and fought for the world we live in. Though those people no longer live among us, the reasons they died for continue to exist today. We can see their motives and their work. We can witness the purpose behind all the combined wars in human history. Whether they were aware of it or not, they all died for a common purpose: to build a planetary civilization. War will continue to occur, and conflicts will persist until this goal is achieved – until everyone is treated equally and enjoys equality. This is their gift – the legacy of our long-passed ancestors. We do not inhabit a normal world; rather, we live in a privileged one. This gift must not be taken for granted unless we want to revert to living in caves. There is only one minimum requirement to sustain such a grand thing. We all need to make a simple offering for this gift to be sustained. That offering is respect – respect for ourselves and our neighbors, because we all live in the same civilization.