Rose-Coloured Spectacles
Man wrongly supposes that he will be able to step into their shoes by destroying others. What man must finally come to terms with is not the ‘here and now’ but all eternity.
On May 30th, 1981, the former president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman (1936-1981), paid a visit to Chittagong. That night, as he lay asleep in the official rest house, he was attacked and murdered by one of his officers, Major General Manzoor. The latter hoped that by eliminating President Ziaur Rahman, he would be able to take over the reins of the government. However, he had made a fatal miscalculation. Except for one loyal Squadron, the ordinary soldiers did not extend their support to him, and just two days later, on June 2nd, he was shot dead by his enemies.
General Manzoor met the same fate which is the eventuality of all humanity. When their time comes, some will receive natural deaths, while others have the misfortune to meet violent ends. Death is inevitable, but no one learns a lesson from this. No ‘General Manzoor’ thinks that after doing away with his enemy, he too will be done to death tomorrow; after casting others down into the pit of death, he will meet an identical fate.
This world is a formidable testing ground. Everyone has been given a free hand in the sphere allotted to him so that he may either prove his mettle or reveal himself for the unworthy person that he is. However, sad to say, life is full of cruelty and irresponsibility. Ironically, those who are most guilty of these lapses are the very ones who complain of others’ misdemeanours. Everyone is a ‘General Manzoor’—engaged in the annihilation or oppression of others. Everyone wants to set himself up on the ashes of other men. Everyone wrongly supposes he will be able to step into their shoes by destroying others. He ignores that what awaits him is not this world’s high and splendid positions but his own dreary grave.
Woe betides those who perpetually see themselves through rose-coloured spectacles, for life will ultimately force them to look directly at the bare, unvarnished bleakness of their moral failures. No one stops to think about this aspect of the future, so engrossed is he in the present. Everyone is fully conversant with what is happening today but is oblivious to the blows that will fall tomorrow.
What man must finally come to terms with is not the ‘here and now’ but all eternity.
