Shaken not stirred

My mother began her life with candlelight in the kitchen and soon was reading by the glow of a paraffin lamp. The faint smell of gas lighting came next. Indeed, even today, gas lights are lit at dusk in the Phoenix Park.

A new and brighter light lit up her house with the wonder of electricity. To go from candles to watching a man walking on the moon on television, amazed her completely. She did not live to see the advent of the iPhone or the computer age, yet her story alerts us to the impact that change brings to our ordinary lives. We can think of ourselves as being the bee’s knees and cat’s pyjamas. But, we are easily fooled because, while technology can be perfect, we are deeply vulnerable: we break easily!

Our own growth in co-responsibility, our building of community, our solidarity with other people has hardly kept pace with these inventions. We may ask whether they are controlling us or serving us. Our experience of a pandemic has brought us to a halt in no uncertain fashion. We have had to painfully revalue our lives, to face how frail we are. One possible comparison is with a game of skittles - we too could fall at the next play.

FLYING TOO HIGH

There is a Greek myth that tells the tale of Icarus and his father Daedalus, who were imprisoned in a high tower by the King. Daedalus had created a labyrinth for this king, who wanted it kept secret from everybody. He even locked both son and father in a tower. However, true to his inventive skill, Daedalus then created wings from wax and feathers and both father and son were able to escape by flying from the tower.

Icarus insisted on flying to the sky. Daedalus warned him that flying too near the sun would melt the glue on the wings. But, Icarus was so intoxicated by his experience of flying that he soared higher and higher towards the sun. The glue on the wings began to melt and he plummeted into the sea and drowned.

OVER-REACHING

This myth points to the temptation of ‘hubris’, that is, over-reaching ourselves and ignoring our limitations. By contrast, true creativity stretches our potential but also respects’ that we are human beings and not gods. I suspect that we are being taught a lesson these days - something like losing our balance

Brent geese fly in formation like a letter ‘V’ to shield each other from the force of the wind. The lead duck is replaced at regular intervals since no duck on its own would make the Arctic journey. It needs the flock and falling on our backside. “Oh, it’s nothing”, we say, as we look around and pretend it did not happen! But it did, and the wise person will take stock. The parables of Jesus remind us where our treasure really lies.

ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

We have just experienced a huge shock to the system and it was a tough teacher. We need to take community back into our ways of thinking. When we think of our lives, we become aware how dependent we are on other people. They influence us and we influence them from the moment we awaken to when we put our head down at night.

I need to realise that paying attention to what is good for all, is good for me! Brent geese fly in formation like a letter ‘V’ to shield each other from the force of the wind. The lead duck is replaced at regular intervals since no duck on its own would make the Arctic journey. It needs the flock.

BELONGING

To be human means belonging to community, not just being an individual. We have a family name (Byrne) and a Christian name (John). So, John’ stands for his individual side but Byrne reveals his relationships to family, to clan, to tribe. However, there is only one person: John Byrne. If John only stresses his individual side, he will never realise the potential for relationships that are within him.

COMMON GROUND

Learning to find common ground builds up community and can be done by storytelling, singing together, sharing meals - simply going out towards others.

We find a common goal in sports,

We need to place the human person first. Our priority has to be the value of the person in all our policy decisions. Our media, our teaching, our television programmes, our way of thinking has to choose the long term benefit for every person in our world, not selfish short term gains - in GAA, in gatherings of any kind. All help to balance Our tendency to being only an individual. Jesus gathered a community of disciples around him and, today, Christians break bread together in communities around the world. We learn to balance the tendency to be only an individual with our drive to share a common endeavour.

NATURE BITING BACK

We cannot ignore either even wider dimensions of our belonging. We are discovering what happens when we tamper with our climate, “our common home” as Pope Francis calls it. Arctic ice is melting four times faster than in 2003. Forest fires in California can no longer be blamed on some wayward scouts starting them. Floods are inundating low lying countries, not to mention our farm land. Promises to drain the Shannon have taken on a new dimension, but too late in the day. People are suffering the consequences.

We need to place the human person first. Our priority has to be the value of the person in all our policy decisions. Our media, our teaching, our television programmes, our way of thinking has to choose the long term benefit for every person in our world, not selfish short-term gains.

We need to challenge technology’s claim that it is the only answer for our world. Surely, many of us thought that I.T. would be able to cope with the changes that were occurring in our climate, but the same I.T. gave no warning that the tsunami would drown villages, coastlines and people.

WONDER OF CREATION

The genius of David Attenborough to film the community of elephants, the pride of lions, the strides of giraffes and the close-up of geese on the wing, has brought us to appreciate the wonder of their kingdom. They know that they are vulnerable and so keep together!

Does the Christian vision of God, who entrusted us to be stewards of Planet Earth, still hold? It is time to put our energy and finance into exploring our future as fellow citizens here and now, rather than working out the composition of the dark side of the moon. ®

(Fr Alan Mowbray SJ is a member of the Jesuit Order and is Parish Chaplin in Milltown Parish in Dublin. He is a regular contributor to The Pioneer magazine)