TAKE IT AS A CHALLENGE
Not as a Problem
PEOPLE often point out that the world is beset by numerous problems such as economic debt, oppression, genocide, inequality, lack of opportunities, and poverty and that these problems cannot and should not be passively accepted. The questions thus frequently raised are: “If God is all-powerful, why is the world afflicted by such problems at all? Why doesn’t God put a stop to evil?”
There is no doubt about the prevalence of these problems in this world, but they cannot be regarded as an issue of the existence of evil. Nor does the existence of adversity cast doubt on the Creator’s omnipotence. A state of affairs marred by problems must be attributed rather to the nature of the creation plan of the Creator.
The creation plan of the Creator is based not on idealism, but on challenge. According to this, challenges are part of the scheme of things. In truth, these phenomena are the plus points and not the negative aspects of this world.
The fact is that the Creator has created man with great potential. It is everyone’s personal duty to unfold one's potential and turn it into actuality. In other words, challenge fosters creativity. This guarantees that creativity will always be a part of human life and, consequently, life will never become stagnant. Had everything been perfect in this world, man would have had nothing to strive for and the result would have been a life lived meaninglessly in the doldrums.
The creation plan of the Creator is based not on idealism, but on challenge.
Advocates of human rights, generally categorize people as ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. This division is not based on reality, but rather on a general unawareness of the law of nature. The right way to describe these two groups is to call them ‘haves’ and ‘potential haves’. If in terms of the present, an individual appears to be in the category of the ‘potential haves’, in the future there are distinct possibilities that he will emerge as one of the ‘haves’.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, for instance, was born into a Dalit family which lived below the poverty line. During his schooldays he had to study by the light of street lamps. But this same boy later did wonders by becoming a leading scholar and being instrumental in drafting the Constitution of India. Similarly, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was born into a family which could not afford to pay his school fees. However, Dr.Kalam went on to become a leading scientist and ultimately the President of India, the highest office of the country.
It is poverty and difficulties which create motivation in people and as such, they are not evils. Without them, there would be little chance of progress or development. According to the creation plan, the principle of life is: suffering plus motivation leads to development.
The same holds true for nations. For example, Japan and Germany were engaged in the hostilities of the Second World War. Both were defeated and suffered great losses. But this loss motivated them to do better national planning, and their efforts in this field bore fruit. It is common knowledge that Germany and Japan, which had once been devastated by war, ultimately rose to become successful nations in the post-war period.
It is not in the Creator’s scheme of things for anyone to be born ‘readymade’ by nature. Human beings are required to struggle to become self-made individuals. This is so that every mind may become a creative mind, and so that everyone may have the self-confidence to carve out independently a career for oneself. Had the world not been fraught with challenges, it would have been a moribund rather than an alive world.
Modern civilization is considered to be the greatest marvel of the present age. But this marvel could only have come into existence as a result of the challenge response mechanism. A phenomenon such as civilization could never have arisen in a world without challenges being met.
Human beings are required to struggle to become self-made individuals.
Moreover, had there been no challenges in the world, human beings would have been deprived of real joy. It is human nature for a person to face a challenge, overcome it through struggle, discover or achieve something new in the process, and then experience great joy. Had everyone been in possession of all they needed from the outset, and no one had been required to struggle to achieve anything, human life would have become like the world of the trees; living, but joyless. On the contrary, man, besides just being alive, can experience joy. The reason for this is the presence of challenge, which is often erroneously considered as a source of suffering.
