Category: Values

Nowadays it is not uncommon to hear life being described as a journey. A journey is a good image, a helpful image, to describe the pattern of our lives.  Before we set out on a journey we need to do a number of things.  Firstly, we need to choose our destination, our journey’s end.  Secondly, we need to find the route that will take us to our destination, the best road to travel.  Finally, we must decide what we need for our journey, what it is that will help us to get to where we want to go.

The journey of life is similar.  It too needs a destination.  It is important to name what it is we want out of life.  If we do not know what we want from life we may end up drifting along aimlessly, without a focus.  At the end of our lives we would surely like to be able to say that we achieved our goals and fulfilled our dreams.

Then we need to choose a good road to take us to our destination.  Is the road we choose a sure road, a safe road? Is it well signposted? Does it provide opportunities for meeting people and experiencing companionship?  Does it allow us to view the scenery on the way, to appreciate the good things we have and to notice the beauty around us?  Or is it like a motorway, fast, efficient, competitive and monotonous?

Finally, we must decide what we need for our journey.  Do we need other people? Do we need God? Do we need the love, support and strength of the three F’s – family, friends and faith?  Or do we prefer to go it alone, to travel by ourselves, to depend on our own resources?

I have a small poster in my living room which says, “Happiness is not a destination; it is a way of life.” Those who walk the Camino across the north of Spain to San Tiago de Compostella say that what happens to them while they are walking the road is as important as what happens when they get to Compostella.  The way we travel the road of life is just as significant as getting to the destination we have set for ourselves. So, let’s slow down, let’s enjoy the ride. Let’s savour the host of opportunities that come our way.  God is present in the here and now waiting and wanting to be recognised and known.  What we used to call ‘the sacrament of the present moment’ has indeed something to teach us about the journey of life.

Even a brief look at the gospels reveals that a constant theme in the teaching of Jesus was the Kingdom of God.  Jesus made it clear that he had come to establish the Kingdom of God in the world.  His mission was to practice and preach the Kingdom.  The ministry of Jesus was to bring about the reign of God in our lives. 

For Jesus, the Kingdom of God is not a place or a territory.  It has nothing to do with geography or nationalism or indeed political power.  It is clear from the example and teaching of Jesus that the Kingdom of God is a way of life; it is about the values we chose to live by.  In particular, it is about the way we relate to each other.  In a word, it is about love.

Who then belongs to the Kingdom of God?  It would seem those who are sincerely trying to live what is known as the beatitudes in their daily lives.  These are the peacemakers, the gentle, the humble, the merciful, those who work for justice, those who are persecuted in the cause of right, those who have mellow and grateful hearts.   Jesus preaches a religion of the heart and his religion is about developing attitudes that create a right relationship with ourselves, other people, the environment and of course God.

It is important for us to realise that those who belong to the Kingdom of God may be members of the Church, but they may not. We cannot limit the Kingdom of God to the Church. To do so would be exclusive and misleading. Obviously the Church is a community where we are meant to experience the Kingdom of God, but there are many people who belong to the Kingdom of God who do not belong to the Church.  Indeed, there might be people who belong to the Kingdom of God and who do not have a conscious awareness of God in their lives.  We call these ‘anonymous Christians.’  Kingdom people are sincere people who show kindness and seek to do good. They try to make the world a better place, often working quietly in the background.  Kingdom people are a leaven in society.  They may not have a public profile but their positive influence is significant, reaching well beyond themselves and beyond even what they dare to imagine.  

Towards the end of St Matthew’s Gospel (chapter 25) Jesus makes it clear that we will be judged by the way we treat our neighbours, especially those who are struggling and suffering.  Surely this is the same yardstick for deciding who belongs to the Kingdom of God.

“Among all my patients in the second half of life—that is to say, over thirty-five—there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost what the living religions of every age have given their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.”

These are the words of the renowned psychiatrist, Carl Jung. His experience of those in crisis was significant. When the crisis comes, and it will, we either find a spiritual path or we get stuck in depression and/or addictive behaviour. Finding a spiritual path requires us to surrender; self-sufficiency keeps us in a cycle of attachments and addictions.

There are many different spiritual paths available to us.  Some are highly structured and require a lot of discipline; others involve a commitment to the practice of a few core values.  A spiritual path gives us a sense of meaning and purpose.  It provides us with a way of dealing with painful experiences like hurt, abuse, rejection and negative feelings like anger, resentment, jealousy.  It also helps us feel connected to the divine presence in our lives.  For many this connection with the divine presence is an experience of unconditional love, forgiveness and protection that they have never felt before.

A spiritual path needs to have three elements.  These are prayer, companionship and service.  Prayer builds our relationship with the divine. Companionship is the experience of affirmation, support and soulful conversation. Service is the essential movement beyond ourselves in response to the needs of others.  If our spiritual path does not have these three elements it lacks balance and perhaps authenticity. It is important to remember that every spiritual path is not an end in itself but a means to an end.  There is always the danger that we will make an idol of our spiritual path.  If we become too attached to our spiritual path we are putting the path itself in the place of God.  The ultimate purpose of every spiritual path is to help us surrender to God who loves us unconditionally and who wants us to come home with empty hands.  “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Saint Augustine).

With the publication of ‘Laudato Si’ Pope Francis has certainly brought spirituality down to earth! The earth is God’s good creation and our common home and we have a responsibility to look after it.  Care for the earth is both a political imperative and a personal one.  We may not have much of a say in influencing political decisions but we can make personal decisions that will create a difference.

There is no doubting the fact that our consumerist lifestyle is having a huge impact on our environment and on climate change.  Why do we need to consume so much?  Why do we find it difficult to say, ‘We have enough?’ It is true that material possessions are a source of comfort and satisfaction.  But there is a deeper reason why we consume.  It has to do with a misguided search for happiness.  Consumerism has us look for happiness in the wrong place, in things outside us.  The love we long for can only be found within. Unless we fill the hole we have inside with the right kind of love we will continue to indulge ourselves.  

Care for the earth also involves the choices we make around the use of energy.  Of course we need sources of energy in our homes, our places of work, our rural and urban environments and indeed for transportation. But do we need to be so wasteful with them.  Why drive half a mile to the local shop if we can walk?  Why leave our computers on if we are not using them or our televisions beaming if we are not watching them?  Why keep our central heating systems pitched high while we walk around our homes and offices in shirts or blouses?  These questions may sound a bit petty but they point to unnecessary waste.  If we do not stop exploiting the resources of the earth we will leave little for future generations.  Needless to say a decision to stop wasting requires personal discipline, something that doesn’t come easy to human nature.

Then there is our use of materials like plastic, paper and cardboard to mention a few. The production of these materials in such volumes is putting pressure on our natural resources and is polluting our waters and our countryside. We could be described as a disposable generation.  But the convenience of disposables comes at a cost.  Do we really want an earth whose beauty is contaminated and whose natural rhythms are quickly becoming imbalanced and out of tune?  What would the Creator say about our treatment of his creation?

Of course caring for the earth is about caring for the poor of the earth.  It always seems to be the poor who suffer most.  They are certainly suffering from the consequences of a ‘western’ lifestyle that cannot get enough, that is consuming and wasting to an alarming degree.  Climate change is affecting the poorer regions of the world much more than it is affecting the wealthier regions.  Famines caused by droughts and homelessness caused by flooding are more common in Africa and in Asia.  This is an undeniable fact.  A capitalism and consumerism that seeks to put the interests of the so called ‘first world’ first creates a hostile environment for those who are struggling to make ends meet. Ultimately care for the earth is about the practice of justice and a pathway to peace.

Nowadays it is not uncommon to hear life being described as a journey. A journey is a good image, a helpful image, to describe the pattern of our lives.  Before we set out on a journey we need to do a number of things.  Firstly, we need to choose our destination, our journey’s end.  Secondly, we need to choose the route that will take us to our destination, the best road to travel.  Finally, we must decide what we need for our journey, what it is that will help us to get to where we want to go.

The journey of life is similar.  It too needs a destination.  It is important that we know what it is we want out of life.  If we do not know what we want from life we may end up drifting along aimlessly, without a focus.  At the end of our lives we would surely like to be able to say that we have achieved our goals and fulfilled our dreams.

Then we need to choose a good road to take us to our destination.  Is the road we choose a sure road, a safe road? Is it well signposted? Does it provide opportunities for meeting people and experiencing companionship?  Does it allow us to view the scenery on the way, to appreciate the good things we have and to notice the beauty around us?  Or is it like a motorway, fast, efficient, competitive and monotonous?

Finally, we must decide what we need for our journey.  Do we need other people? Do we need God? Do we need the support and strength of the three F’s – family, friends and faith?  Or do we prefer to go it alone, to travel by ourselves, to depend on our own resources?

Those who walk the Camino across the north of Spain to San Tiago de Compostella say that what happens to them while they are walking the road is as important as what happens when they get to Compostella.  The way we travel the road of life is just as significant as getting to the destination we have set for ourselves.