How often we take things for granted in life as we immerse ourselves in the daily struggles and joys of life!
That thought kept reverberating in my mind as I attended a rare presentation on the importance of marriage and family to a life of contentment and genuine accomplishment.
And how often we overlook that at the end of each day, it is the family, we turn to as the nucleus of life, sharing ideas, ebbs and flows of work, as we navigate a world of crisscrossing information, unending news cycles and professional competition.
The venue was The Washington Times, and its chairman Tom McDevitt, who also heads the Universal Peace Federation in the United States, himself was the presenter on the subject “Family as the School of Love and Peace.”
Aisha Khan, a candidate for Maryland Assembly at The Washington Times event
June 1, 2018
Photo: Views and News
Ms. Tomiko Duggan, Secretary UPF and Dr. Zulfiqar Kazmi, founder of The Commongrounds, added to the spice and candor of the Iftar dinner presentation with their own thoughtful remarks on the subject.
Fresh from a visit to Asian countries in the company of UPF co-founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon,, McDevitt, said the presentation sprang from deliberations and teachings of late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of Universal Peace Foundation.
McDevitt began by highlighting how marriage, as a social contract and a source of familial pride, remains at the center of the society, and societal construction and growth.
Secondly, McDevitt pointed out a spate of negative trends like alarming rise in the rate of divorces, failure of intimate relationships outside marriages, and the excruciating loss of natural parenthood that children have to live with when growing up with a single parent, arguing these demand that people re-embrace marriage and its sanctity as an institution.
The UPF leader also cited scriptures from Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the teachings of Rev. and Mrs Moon. In attendance were representatives of many diverse communities including the Hindus, Budhists and some Japanese visiting the United States.
Recipients of Ambassador of Peace
June 1, 2018
Photo: Views and News
As I sat through the talk, I began gathering my takeaways.
Lest I sound didactic, I first applied the rule of taking things for granted to myself.
How conveniently I ignore all the blessings that come with family and then they serve a moral compass!
I not only thought of my wife and kids but my parents. Since my parents live in another country, I was able to feel how they feel about the family and children, and also I reminded myself how many great and priceless things I have learnt from them.
The other takeaway was the marriage and family strengthening the human bond, which, if shared across a community and a society, lays the unswerving foundation of love and humanism – the heart and soul of being human. Brick by brick, love of and for others raises the edifice of affinity and affiliation, empathy and understanding – a great reaching out of the people to all the people for a peaceful coexistence.
Dr. Zulfiqar Kazmi, founder of The Commongrounds received greetings and recognition at the event
June 1, 2018
Photo: Views and News
Thirdly, I really found the subject as being topical in the face of political fissures, armed conflicts, racial biases, slogans of exclusiveness and xenophobia, and the many levels of dichotomies tearing societies along sectarian and tribal demarcations. How the nucleus of being human and a family can weave all diverse American communities together!
McDevitt’s powerful reminder of family as the strong pillar of humanity got appreciable support from Dr. Kazmi, who assembled people from many backgrounds and ages to vow peace for all with the UPF’s Ambassador of Peace awards.
Befitting the occasion, Ms. Tomiko Duggan, rounded off the event with a traditional serving of juice to all the couples and young people, who she said are would-be-couples, to share the drink as a symbol and source for blessings and peaceable living.
