a waste....

Monday evening is usually my study-circle time.. this monday, we couldn't meet, so I decided to accept Alice's invitation to see a movie at her student's house... invited Katy & Irina to join us!

We had no idea what kind of movie was in program, but were open to everything... or thought we were!!

Pretty soon we found out that to be screening was a movie defined as violent and for adults only... It was Gus Van Sant "Elephant" we watched and as I'm keen on movies in general, I appreciated this one on the same theme of "Bowling for Columbine"... though really specific on the situation...

It made me reflect on youth, how they WASTE their potentials, their diamond's talents...
We talked after the movie about models society pushes them to follow (society = each one of us), on wrong attitudes (I suffered therefore you have to suffer too), on wrong values (be rich-be beauty- be cool), on being lonely = thinking with your own head, on feeling alienation because "different" (we all are!!) or shy or else!

ALIENATION is the individual subject's estrangement from its community, society, or world (as in wikipedia)

But what could possibly push a youth (that same very youth so eager to be part of the world, to be accepted by, to be usefull to, to be so special for the others) to hate the rest of the world??

We all have sense alienation once in our life... but this alone didn't bring us to react irreversible!

There is a MGMT's song which explains perfectly that what we are looking for is NOT what is good for us...

How do we know what is good for us? Is this really possible?

"Ordain Thou for me, O my God, the good of this world and the world to come, and
grant me what will profit me in every world of Thy worlds, for I know not what
will help or harm me. Thou, in truth, art the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise." (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 256)

Are there hints we should look for? Shouldn't we try to get to know ourself better in order to take decisions?

"Regarding the questions you asked: Self has really two meanings, or is used in two senses, in the Bahá'í writings; one is self, the identity of the individual created by God. This is the self mentioned in such passages as 'he hath known God who hath known himself etc.'. The other self is the ego, the dark, animalistic heritage each one of us has, the lower nature that can develop into a monster of selfishness, brutality, lust and so on. It is this self we must struggle against, or this side of our natures, in order to strengthen and free the spirit within us and help it to attain perfection."
"Self-sacrifice means to subordinate this lower nature and its desires to the more godly and noble side of ourselves. Ultimately, in its highest sense, self-sacrifice means to give our will and our all to God to do with as He pleases. Then He purifies and glorifies our true self until it becomes a shining and wonderful reality." (Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 113)

Which Self is really influencing our ability to decide then?

There is no waste, if youth are guided to right values and models and is given them the opportunity to use their abilities for the common good... in little, practical action of SERVICE!!For Service is a powerful instrument to bring forth our talents and spend them on others...

"The time has come for the friends...to think not how they should serve the Cause, but how the Cause should be served." (Compilations, Quickeners of Mankind, p. 19)

"O Lord!

Make this youth radiant, and confer Thy bounty upon this poor creature. Bestow upon him knowledge, grant him added strength at the break of every morn and guard him within the shelter of Thy protection so that he may be freed from error, may devote himself to the service of Thy Cause, may guide the wayward, lead the hapless, free the captives and awaken the heedless, that all may be blessed with Thy remembrance and praise. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful."

'Abdu'l-Bahá