On Passivity and It's Opposite: More reflections on the Ridvan Message
This from a blogger who became a Baha'i in Korea and is now living in the States. -gw
We also went over the Ridvan (pronounced riz-wan) message today.Each year our [Univeral House of Justice] writes a message for us- Army folks, think of it as an AAR of sorts. It's comprised of what we've done, what we intended to do, and what our strengths and weaknesses are. We, as a global community, are told what we need to focus on to strengthen our communities and spirits. This year's message was quite long, and, so, we only got to go through a couple paragraphs today.
This passage caught my attention and hit me like a sucker punch hits a drunk: "Let no one fail to appreciate the possibilities thus created. Passivity is bred by the forces of society today. A desire to be entertained is nurtured from childhood, with increasing efficiency, cultivating generations willing to be led by whoever proves skilful at appealing to superficial emotions."
Tell me that's not the truth. This sprung a conversation amongst our group about the state of music today. Music is now an industry, whereas it was once an event, a practice, a ritual. Mrs. Yoon, a very kind lady of a generation before my own, commented that she went to a festival at the local college not so long ago and it was almost upsetting to her to see these younger folks sit, separated, and watching people dance. 'I felt the generation gap,' she told us, as she explained that music has always been a participatory thing to her, and here were these young people passively letting themselves be entertained by watching someone else enjoy music. I couldn't help but agree.
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