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Many of you have probably already read "The Paradox of our Time." Today I received it from an e-mail friend and the phrases were accompanied by beautiful pictures of Hong Kong. I think the person who put this together was trying to reflect the basic decadence of our times with the writer's pithy sayings. While the pictures were breath-taking, I was more interested in the beauty of the piece which was inspired by a poem of the Dalai Lama. Dr. Bob Morehead, a former pastor of Seattle's Overlake Christian Church retired in 1998 after 29 years in that post. He used the Dalai Lama's poem to enlarge upon for his own piece.
Here is the Dalai Lama's poem - The Paradox of Our Times.
We have bigger houses but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We build more computers to hold more information to
produce more copies than ever but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.
Here I have reproduced some of "The Paradox of Our Time" by Dr. Bob Morehead: (My favorite thoughts are in CAPS):
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
(WE SPEND MORE, BUT HAVE LESS)
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, but more problems, more medicine but less wellness.
(WE HAVE MORE DEGREES, BUT LESS SENSE.)
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired; read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
(GET ANGRY TOO QUICKLY AND PRAY TOO SELDOM.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.
(THIS WHOLE THOUGHT IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO COMPLETE THAT I CANNOT CHOOSE A FAVORITE PART)
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.
(WE'VE CONQUERED OUTER SPACE, BUT NOT INNER SPACE.)
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
(THIS LINE TOO STANDS ALONE AS COMPLETE AND WELL SAID.)
There is more to this one of a kind piece which can easily be found on the internet. I think people who have found wisdom in what has been written thus far will want to read the rest of this introspective look at our times. I learned that authorship of this piece was at one time credited by some to George Carlin. However, he didn't feel honored by this and even called Paradox "a sappy piece of ......." I really don't know anything about George Carlin -nor do I want to know anything more about him now.
