NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews) — Man is the greatest and the continuing miracle of God.
Through him new things have been created and continue to be created every day.
Finding himself without wings, he developed means to fly far beyond the capacity of birds and other flying creatures. He invented balloons, gliders, airplanes, and spaceships.
Without gills and fins, he invented underwater breathing-swimming apparatus, boats, ships, and submarines to allow him to stay longer and to move faster and cover distances far beyond the capacity of any fish and other swimming animals under and on the surface of the water.
Limited by his physical attributes and by time and space, he could only see and communicate up to a point. This he overcame by inventing the telephone, the telescope, the radio, the television, the camera, the voice and video recorders, the communication satellites, and the Internet. The integration of the features of these communication facilities allows man to interact live with his fellows in any corner of the world, and to record and store the present and see and review his past in living fashion.
He conquers plagues by vaccines, extends life by medicines, and overcomes food scarcity by hastening the growth and multiplying the production capacity of plant and animal crops.
The continuing challenge, however, for man is how to remove anger and greed from his system and replace them with love and compassion for his fellow humans. This is the ultimate miracle in the making.
This great miracle is demonstrated now and then every time a natural disaster strikes a human community. Our experience with Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the earthquake that shook Bohol into rubbles and the serial wrecking super typhoons and devastating floods last year and many more calamities speak a mouthful of this miracle.
Notwithstanding differences in political persuasion, religious belief, race, color and physical distance from each other, people all over the world were one in expressing their solidarity with us in those extra-ordinary, heart-rending and trying times. They gracefully offered us with all kinds of help possible: rescuers, medical services and supplies, money, food, emergency shelters, clothing, etc.
The sincere and touching expression of humanity in everyone was simply amazing.
We need similar miracle to happen in ordinary times. There can be no greater miracle in this planet than that where individuals and nations step out from their comfort zones in pursuit of something greater than themselves – to erase poverty and wants, to abolish wars, to remove the sting and venom of organized religions, to halt the devastation of the environment, so that mankind will live in peace and harmony.
It’s truly a very long shot. But man is basically good. We are experiencing in our lifetime the great revolution of the human mind. The next to follow is the unstoppable upheaval of the human heart towards universal goodness.
Nothing is impossible.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental)
