By Hipolito M Navarrete, Managing Editor and Publisher

What is our purpose, if not to help each other? What is our mission if not to make this world a better place for those that are coming after us? What is our vision as space calls to us to explore and expand? Who is it that we are preparing for a complicated and complex world that is being inundated with new discoveries and information? Are we not each other’s keeper?

Our capacity as humans is being expanded every second of the day by new discoveries and new opportunities, what does this mean to our humanity? We are not prepared for these challenges because we are not being coached and guided properly to work with each other to support the development of a world in which we are all interconnected and in communication with each other every moment of the day. Our love for discovery is well placed, and it should be guided by our need of each other. As we create opportunities for humanity, how are we preparing those humans that are going to experience and utilize the tools that we will leave behind for them to use? Where are the future space workers coming from? Are we preparing all communities to be part of such a grandiose and promising future? Is there a way in which we can best prepare all to have an opportunity to partake in that future or are we again going to find the “best and the brightest” from a very small group of folks that do not represent the world we live in? How are we going to develop talent for all those positions that are being created so that the whole world benefits? Are we looking at those groups that are being persecuted all over the world to find those that have a talent to learn things that we are not yet aware of? Who is looking at the refugee populations to make sure we do not miss the next, Einstein, Da Vinci, Curie, Bell, Hurston, many of these folks were ignored because they were not the “appropriate” example of who people expected them to be, not the right religion or gender, but they broke through because they had the mental acuity and spiritual fortitude to ignore the prejudices of the fearful and hateful around them. I am 100% sure that one or many of these discoverers is in the refugee camps where the Rohingya people are now being shoved into because some people filled with hate and fear want to use them as the material for their violent tendencies.

We have a lot to celebrate, and a lot to mourn. For those of us that claim to be Christians, we have a lot to answer for. We have betrayed our faith because we decided to put ourselves first, not our brothers and sisters. We have chosen to ignore our call for compassion by allowing our fear of others to rule many of our choices, including looking away as atrocities happen around us, or we inculcate them to happen. This will be something we will answer for, in our lifetime. If we really believe what we were told on John 15:12, “Love each other as I have loved you” then we are in a lot of trouble as Christians, and no, this was not a suggestion, John 13:34 is very clear, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Now you must find if your definition of love is in concert with the faith we claim to have as a country and/or as an individual.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!