human beings .ie

In his day Jesus was none too pleased with the way the pharisees were running the religious institutions. How would he see the modern day Pharisees, the Pope, his cardinals and bishops and their running of a church built on his name. I would hazard a guess and say “really angry”. The way they have tried to protect the institution, by covering up the continuing abuse of children by priests of that very church, is criminal. He saw children as close to perfect “Unless you be like little children”. The church is so far removed from his message and philosophy that it now deserves to be no more.

What more can be said or felt regarding this catastrophic event that so cruelly killed and maimed so many unfortunate human beings. Faith in a loving and caring God is severely tested. What is clear is that we as inhabitants of this planet are at the mercy of the very forces that continue to shape it. Our power and control is non existent. But our care and compassion for our fellow man is very evident and the response of the rest of the world has been compelling.

This poorest of nations with a rich history of slave revolt, exploitation and interference from many foreign powers, has been devastated by one of the worst natural disasters of modern times and our global response has been encouraging. It also shows some of the rest of us, who live in relative luxury, how to appreciate what we have. It can disappear in an instant. It is a fragile relationship, human beings and planet Earth.

On a small island on the edge of Europe about 1500 years ago, the inhabitants, warring Celtic tribes with some sense of druidic mysticism, embraced a new philosophy. Its spirit spoke of love and care and looking out for one another. The Irish became a Christian nation, and christianity became Irish. A culture of learning, art and enlightenment followed, and for 500 years this culture thrived.

Meanwhile in another part of the world christianity was being incorporated into the Roman Empire and a new super power was born. These two versions of the same philosophy were on a collision course, one a practice in simplicity and learning, the other a practice in accumulation of power and wealth. With the collusion of mighty Kings the Celtic mystical way was crushed and the Roman version ruled. The land was seized and occupied.

Eight hundred years later “liberty” was finally gained from the secular forces but the might of Rome took an even firmer hold on the embryonic state. From the Eucharistic congress of 1932 the church of Rome took a stranglehold grip of our young nation and abused that power to such an extent that sexual and physical abuse was common place and the Church itself covered up these evils. Latterly we embraced free market capitalist materialism and behaved like kids rampant in a sweet shop. The bubbles have burst.
We are now in a vacuum.Maybe we can learn a lesson from these mistakes and rediscover our true spirit, a wise and simple understanding of our humanity. We have seen our freedom usurped by power and control, by a greed that sees short term profit as the holy grail. We were close before, where people mattered, where we genuinely cared for each other. True freedom comes from loving the Good.

Time to Stop & Stare

What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep and cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

William Henry Davies 1871-1940

A poem a lot of us would have heard at some point, its just the whole world is in such a hurry, booming and busting, and controlling and fixing, we never stop to consider what we have.

An exert from Henry George’s Progress and Poverty.

” Imagine a vast country with no occupants. Settlers begin to arrive in the country. One family comes to a very large valley and settles down there. They were farmers and could grow food for thousands, but not being builders they lived in a shack. Their clothes are crude and some die from disease but they eat like kings. Another family arrives and they are builders and can build houses for thousands. So they say we will build houses for all if you give us of your surplus food. Now both families live in excellent houses, eat like kings but they dress badly and some die of disease. But soon a maker of clothes arrives and dresses all well and has a house and food supplied by the others. A doctor and his family arrives and they are provided with food, a house and clothing. He cares for the health of the others and so everyone prospers. As each new settler arrives, they give of the abundance of their speciality and the lives of all are enriched.”

This may be a simple model but it shows the basis of true progress is cooperation, not the crazy competitive economic model that is the only one on offer to us at this moment in time. The only people that benefit at present are the capitalists that control this narrow view of our human situation.

In the words of the Bard, and he did have a particular gift in that department, from Hamlet, ” that noble and most sovereign reason” and later he expands

” what is a man

if his chief good and market of his time

be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more!

Sure he that made us with such large discourse,

Looking before and after, gave us not

That capability and godlike reason,

To fust in us unused.”

Reason, the faculty of mind which is used to know what is true and right.

Its still very much fusting away, besides exploiting the need for food and shelter and “cute hoor” trading in gold, diamonds and a few barrels of fossil fuel, what else has reason done for us.

Maybe, seeing that it is a common trait, it is time to collectively use it and direct it to a higher level to insure its proper use.

The finishing line is in sight. For as far back as we can see we have been involved in a titanic struggle for existence, for control of the land and it has been a very competitive race, survival of the fittest, and countless millions losing out. We have been clinging to this little rock, the third from the sun, fighting over every square inch, driven by primordial forces that are at the core of our evolution.

So where are we now? Time for the human being to flourish. We have been so involved in survival that human nature is programmed for selfishness. Is there another program that we can tune into? We have been made aware of things like wisdom, love and co-operation. Are these qualities innate in our true nature?

This is a fundamental question to where we are now and for finding our way. We could issue in a global golden age, where co-operation is the key in “economics”, where appreciation of our place ends the struggle and allows our true nature to evolve.

One of the cornerstones of Democracy is government for the common good. What has been happening in the world of late is a sham of democracy being used as a tool for free market capitalism to develop and in its wake the erosion of the common good.

One of the very obvious effects of this economic crisis is the way we are all linked together. All government leaders are avoiding responsibility by pointing to the fact that this is global. The market is bigger than the individual nation and given free rein, with the “aim” of creating wealth, it has worked for the few, who did not consider the common good and became extremely rich.

In all this chaos the glimpse of togetherness and in that our shared humanity, goodness, has been seen by some. This is our time, where common sense sees the common good and from that view true democracy can flourish and prosper and grow. Real “wealth” for all.

Just listening to a prophetic song from a visionary singer/songwriter who wrote this way back in 1963
Mr Bob Dylan
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

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Loss

February 26th, 2009 · Comments Off

Part of our existence here is the inevitability that there is an end to it. My mother recently passed away, 88 years of age, 79 healthy vibrant ones and 9 confined to a wheelchair, dependent on her family and the state. The feeling of loss and grief felt by those who loved her was almost unbearable, especially for my dad, after spending 63 loving years together. Such is the nature of life.

During this sad time my heart went out to all those Palestinian people who had lost so many loved ones in that terrible carnage that was Gaza. So much loss and grief for so many young lives.

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If Jesus was alive today!

March 31st, 2010 · Comments Off

Haiti

January 31st, 2010 · Comments Off

The Island of Saints and Scholars

November 30th, 2009 · Comments Off

Time to appreciate.

September 30th, 2009 · Comments Off

Co operation

July 31st, 2009 · Comments Off

Reason

June 28th, 2009 · Comments Off

The End of the Human Race

May 18th, 2009 · Comments Off

Common Sense, Common Good

May 18th, 2009 · No Comments Yet

The Times They Are A-Changin’

March 6th, 2009 · Comments Off

Loss

February 26th, 2009 · Comments Off

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