The International Day of for Tolerance was established by UNESCO in 1995 to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance. This was shortly after the 125th anniversary Mahatma Ghandi's birth. Regardless of our background today is a day to think about equality and non-violence.
Perhaps the issue of tolerance is best addressed by the Hindu song Vaishnav Jan. This is a bhajan poem written in the Gujarati language. It is about understanding the pain of others and overcoming our own anger and greed. Human beings cannot just be tolerant without a force guiding them. Ancient Hindu's realized they needed to be free from vice to be tolerant of others.
Personally I see hope in friendship. We have a challenge to befriend the person closest to us. If we cannot love ourselves and the ones we live closest too, then how can we be tolerant of someone even more different? We have to be friends to those we work with, our family and those we live with and then we can have compassion for others. It grows. The hypocrite says, "Have compassion for all people!" Then he goes home to argue with his wife and kids.
I will finish the tolerance day playlist with Bill Wither's "Lean on Me". I like to play these chords on the piano when I am down. It's really fun to play this progression.
Bill Wither's is not forgotten for this graceful song that calls us to compassion and understanding at a personal level.
Actually the first time I heard this song was the 80s remake by Club Nouveau. I remember hearing this from Barsky in the morning Z95. The song was a really popular dance song for a while: "We be Jammin!! Pump it up homeboy just like that!!"
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you don't let show
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me
So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Lean on me...