“From the standpoint of daily life…there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other.”
–Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was one of the most brilliant men ever to live and one of the greatest scientists of all time. He won a Nobel Prize, and his research formed the basis for three new branches of physics. Einstein’s scientific achievements and contributions are well known around the world. However, science was not the only area in which Einstein made important contributions. He was a man of peace and a champion of social justice. He had a deep compassion for people who were economically or politically oppressed. Before the rise of Nazism in Germany, Einstein had been an ardent pacifist. After World War II, he became a strong supporter of world government.
In 1933, while he was visiting England and the United States, the Nazi government of Germany took Einstein’s property, and deprived him of his academic career and his citizenship. Einstein moved to the United States and became a professor at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He settled down in Princeton and spent the rest of his life in that position. Einstein lived a quiet personal life, but he continued to have a vital interest in human affairs. Although Einstein was not affiliated with any specific organized religion, his nature was deeply religious. He once said, “God may be sophisticated, but He is not malicious.”
I strongly agree with Einstein’s assertion that we are here for the sake of each other. Nobody can make it alone in this world. For starters, unlike some animals, human beings are born totally helpless. It would be impossible for a newborn baby to survive on its own. But even after we are physically mature, we can’t make it on our own. We need other people, and other people need us. We are all members of God’s team here on earth, and we all need to work for the common good. There will be times when we falter and need someone to extend a helping hand to us. There will be other times when we are in a position to help others.
There is not enough darkness in the whole world to extinguish the light of a single candle, and that candle can be used to light other’s candles. If our candle is burning brightly, we can use it to bring light to the lives of others, and if our candle goes out, we need to seek out someone who can help us to get it burning again. If we would all share our candles with others, the whole world could shine brightly.
Albert Einstein had enormous talent and mental capacity, and he used those gifts from God to make this a much better world. Few people have anything remotely close to Einstein’s talents, but all of us have our own unique set of talents with which we can make contributions to one another. We must never forget that we are all traveling on the same ship of life, and we all need to help keep that ship afloat. Some of us are able to contribute more than others, but we can all contribute something. In the words of Helen Keller, “I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.”
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
