Mark Lowry

Patience doesn’t arise spontaneously, we have to make an effort and familiarize ourselves with it. What’s more, it’s those hostile to us rather than our friends who teach us patience.

Wherever I go, I try to cultivate a sense of the oneness of humanity. I see everyone I meet as being essentially the same. And people respond positively to this. Animals too. Fear leads to isolation, so it's helpful to be open to others.

We must find secular ways to cultivate warm-heartedness — to educate ourselves about inner values. The source of a happy life is within us. Troublemakers in many parts of the world are often well educated, so it’s not just education we need. We must pay attention to inner values.

We must learn that humanity is one big family. We’re all brothers and sisters: physically, mentally and emotionally the same. But we still focus far too much on differences instead of what we have in common. After all, every one of us is born the same way and dies the same way.

We can no longer keep exploiting the resources of this earth-the trees, the water and the minerals-without any care for the coming generations. It is common sense that we cannot survive if we keep working against nature. We must learn to live in harmony with nature.

Modern science doesn’t include a deep understanding of the workings of mind and emotions, but some scientists are showing an interest in finding out. We need to cultivate emotional hygiene — learning how to reduce anger, anxiety and fear. The key is to cultivate peace of mind.