Peace Message Behind A Mysterious Painting (By Moehammad Amar Ma’ruf)

By Moehammad Amar Ma’ruf, Charge d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Tripoli-Libya

I have been looking for some times to see a hanging painting in front of me. The painting that shows clearly how the painter tell/describe with his/her canvas peaceful and beautiful scenery.

Is it imaginary or real one? That the first question disturbing my mind. Unfortunately, that painting has no information that mentioning of its painter and/or its title.

It just depicts/describes the scenery of social activities of certain peoples who live at the bank of river with the scenery behind showing a great landscape of tidy living areas with the full of settlement in the hilly land topography.

Then myself tries to predict that painting was made to describe the situation in the period of middle ages where the golden era of knowledge and ethics enlightening their pattern of life. Like the story of Aladdin with his miracle lamp.

I just keep on thinking of this secret message of this mysterious painting. My feeling felt hyptonized as if that painting has a deep and charming strength that invite me to fall tenderly and begin comparing with current situation.

My feeling then become mix between anger and sadness when I try to realize and compare with current situation that many parts of the world now show full of contradictive pictures and realities.

My thought tends to consider that now world may be tired and ages. Then my feeling is tempted to ignore the good call to realize quickly and to reverse inability to act in reducing or even erase destructive impacts with doing something that may useful even though only small point/thing such as invite our self not to be problem maker but to be solving maker.

I realize that ignorance may cause more trouble toward the environment and it makes us getting disturbed with the unfriendly situation.

The contradiction in conducting behavior of life seems have gone far from ideal. Today, world seems to be conflicting to each other’s where peoples lose their control in respecting a base value of knowledge and ethic as integral part of their life.

These two aspects are neglected and almost live in the surface but not in the essence of life. In fact, these aspects are more important and valuable than just material aspects.

The modern way of living today is much focused on material aspects that neglecting the noble message of social life. This way clearly contributes to the degradation of environment and social cohesiveness.

The material aspects have absorbed main sources of life such as fresh water, energy, safe food, safe settlement and harmony or even brotherhood. The human may be too exaggerative to exploit earth and environment that make unbalancing situation.

Then, I am trying to see deep on the spot of the painting that may have some hidden message and characters. Yes, I just feel that I take point that painter would like to share with us, namely some interconnection between man behavior and its surrounding.

The point that seem to be disseminated moderately regarding some respecting characters to each other that being shown by their modest custom and way of life.

Then my mind try to pose a more questions, is it the impact of their knowledge or the impact of their natural characters or they even ever had got any chance to have a new lesson from their honest public figure or king or leaders where at that time tend to be Sufis tic.

Then I suddenly realize that changes never happen on passive mood. There must be enlightening thought that guide our character to be in line with their surroundings. During that period where natural resources were abundant where human were not many, the demand to fulfill their daily need was not becoming social issue.

In this level, temptation may come from physiological and psychological (P&P). These two aspects become the center point of time of civilization that inherited much wisdom to live after that. Meanwhile the lack of respecting these two aspects P&P, will be contradictive to human existence.

To answer this, now I am thinking deeply toward how we can keep the ethic value of these aspects of P&P in our society.

Is there any degradation of value that actually had been maintained well by our ancestor? One of the values is respecting life and respecting environment.

The question seems becoming unfinished job since we read history about human race and civilization that coloring with happy and sadness events. The conflict always neglects our humanity feelings and respects.

Therefore, the message of painting demands me to be strong to implement this value with my capacity. Then I also realize that I am not alone.

I have still others who also share the same feeling to see our P&P strong in unity to implement acts based on caring and loving to each others for creating more cohesive situation.

Now, from this P&P point of views, I begin to invite my mind to conquer mysterious message that hypnotized my mind toward meaning of the painting that hanging in the wall where I stand.

I begin to walk and talk to myself that there must be something to be done to make the situation back as being depicted in the painting. Moreover, the game is still be faced and being given to us who live now in order to make world better not worse.

So, what is our guidance now where many issues good or bad becoming one single blended color of life. This situation is seen only in our unstable P&P where the bad emotion and mentality will ruin the good things that actually inherited in human soul. That is always tempting human to be selfish and feel greedy.

My mind becoming clear and My talk becoming louder to myself that our homework is to establish stable P&P in doing our inter relations with human and environment.

But above of all, Human must realize that we will not be eternal in the world. We, as human, should realize that we will be asked our responsibility before the God Almighty that creates us. The God that may always be forgotten in our daily life.

So now, I am relieved that the painting is a message for us who are still living to keep and maintained our brother and sisters and even us living in peace as a part of God Almighty creation. Anyone who is not believed finally will find their day and will face Their God accordingly. May Allah Azza Wa Jalla give us right path and guidance. Aaameen Ya Robbal Alameen. (AK/Sj/R01)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)