We live in interesting times. When I walk along the street on this beautiful summer’s day, I pass many families walking together towards the beach, and I’m reminded that the family unit is the basis of our civilization. So when we think of family, we also have to think of forgiveness because perhaps our family members are the only people who actually will truly forgive us for our blunders and our faults in life. And I think the family at the moment, of course, is being tremendously assailed because we don’t know what this means in a sense. At one point in civilization in the not too distant past, the nuclear family was truly everything.
You had a father and a mother and at least 2 children. In my case, my parents had 5 children, but they were above the norm slightly. I would say that 34 was normal for people that were married in the fifties the sixties. And, of course, then over time, this amount diminished bit by bit. And now many people want to have perhaps, if they marry at all, they want to have no children or only one child.
And this will be a problem long term because if you don’t replace your basic population, you need immigration. And many times people are coming from a totally different culture than your own. This is true, I think, internationally. And these people either adapt to your culture or they ultimately change it. It really depends.
So if you think very quickly as an aside in the Roman Empire, after the time of perhaps Diocletian, at the end of 3rd century, you started to see an enormous population decline. And then the barbarians from areas such as the Rhineland, the Goths, were invited into the Roman Empire, and eventually, they build in population. And in 410, they actually sacked Rome for, apparently, the first time in 800 years, totally changing the dynamic. So the family. The family is an extremely important institution.
Now just a small story. Very recently, I was sitting in a restaurant with my girlfriend at the time, and I looked at the table beside me and there were 4 nice looking people, a mother, father, and 2 children. The children perhaps in their early teens, 12, 13 years old, let’s say. And they were not talking to one another. They were totally on their phone.
So I believe that if we are going to have a family institution in the future, we’re going to have to learn to speak to one another. Because if you think of all conflict in the world, the wars that are occurring at the moment and so forth. These are directly caused by a lack of communication, and the family is the place in theory where we can hone our communication skills. And in family, once again, in theory, we can learn to truly love, love one another, love all human beings. I think this is what life is ultimately about, loving each other, trying to find our path in this life, and, of course, the 3 questions.
Once again, why am I here? What is my mission? And what happens when I leave leave here? What happens when I die? This is important, and my family will certainly assist me along the way.
And I know they ultimately forgive me for my sins, which I’m sure are many, and I forgive my family members as well. Wonderful. And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is necessary, certainly, to nurture our family ties, and critical thinking is great, truly great. You take care. God bless. Bye bye.