Inasmuch as some people may be quick to respond to issues that require their effort, time and money, our natural tendency as humans is to remain silent and sooth ourselves with the belief that there are enough able and willing people in the world to make a difference without us. But our silence, especially when it is against our innermost urge to act, is often more lethal than the actions of the actual perpetrators of evil. According to Bruno Jasienski, "Do not fear your enemies. The worst they can do is to kill you. Do not fear friends. At worst, they may betray you. Fear those who do not care; they neither kill nor betray, but betrayer and murder exist because of their silent consent." This is why the focus of The Exhortation this month is to exhort you to examine your level of responsiveness to, firstly, your innermost desire to grow and better yourself; secondly, the needs of those around you; and ultimately, the desires of our Maker.

Using the popular Abraham Maslow's five hierarchies of needs as a framework, we are no doubt quick to respond to our physiological/biological needs, safety/security needs, love/belonging needs, and status/esteem needs. However, many of us barely respond to The FIFTH Element, which is our need for self-actualization - a term coined by Kurt Goldstein, meaning the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their unique abilities and to strive to be the best they can be. According to Maslow, self-actualizing people embraces the facts and realities of the world rather than denying or avoiding them; they are creative and spontaneous in their ideas and actions, and interested in solving problems, especially the problems of others - often a key focus in their lives; they feel closeness to other people, and generally appreciate life; they have a system of morality that is fully internalized and independent of external authority; and finally, they judge others objectively without prejudice.

Furthermore, in a 1949 Psychological Review, self-actualization was defined as "the intrinsic growth of what is already in the organism, or more accurately, of what the organism is". Basically, we are designed to continuously strive to be the best we can be, rather than settle for mediocrity, so that when we finally reach the end of our journey on earth, we can confidently say, like Apostle Paul once said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith". According to an old Indian saying, "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice". Pericles also noted "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

My friend, this is The FIFTH Element - self-actualization! And your irresponsiveness to this innermost urge within you has caused many lives to be filled with regrets, guilty conscience and unhappiness, while causing many more to just sit by, complain, make excuses and blame others, instead of aspiring to fill the many vacancies for heroes and heroines in today's world. You and I know that major catastrophes in history, like the hauling of Africans from their continent to be sold into slavery in Europe and America; the first and second world wars; and the massacre of the Jews, as well as the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda that collectively resulted in a sum of over two million deaths was fuelled by the silence of people, institutions and governments who could have made a difference, but chose otherwise. Similarly, today's global chaos, with the worst being the millions of death caused by starvation, and the enslavement, exploitation, pornography and prostitution of children, rages on because some of us have chosen to remain silent. If you barely obey your own innermost urges to better yourself, improve your relationships with others, and contribute towards making the world a better place, the result in no different.

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