How to save the world

I just watched two old movies played by Ben Kingsley. I had known before that Gandhi was played by Kingsley, but I had not known that he was also in Schindler's List playing the Jewish accountant, Itzhak Stern.

The two movies have more things in common than Kingsley. Both Gandhi and Schindler are heroes to oppressed peoples. While Gandhi led his own people to independence, Schindler rescued a people he did not ethnically belong to. They both proved themselves to be selfless, but imperfect.

India became independent shortly after World War II. Gandhi had, on some occasions, written his opinions on Holocaust when it was taking place during the war.

The Deadliest Poison

King Solomon is well known for his wisdom and wealth. Many stories have been written about him. Some claim that he can speak to animals, but to me it makes more sense to say that he speaks "of" animals, in that he writes numerous poems and songs about animals. And who can forget the story of two women and a baby which gives rise to the expression The Judgment of Solomon. Despite such wisdom Solomon makes a drastic turn in his life. Being a king in that era he gets many fine things in life, including wives and concubines. His love for women gradually leads him to a very different life. 1 Kings 11:9 reads “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.”

Here is one of the biggest tragedies in history. We hear of people whose theophanic experience gives them enormous strength to carry their mission to the end of their lives. In the Bible we know of Abraham, Jacob, Isaiah, Mary, Paul and outside it there are Joan of Arc and Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. It's very rare that individuals who have seen God end up abandoning their calls. In Solomon's case his wisdom and wealth is attributed to his first encounter with God. The second encounter is ironic because it is a warning for him not to abandon God.

The Bible passage above mentions explicitly that God's anger is caused by Solomon's heart. Wisdom alone is not enough to please God. It may well be that wisdom itself changes one's heart. When one's heart has turned away from God, even God himself is powerless to mend it. The human heart is the deadliest poison.