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Mallow Parish
The Hunter/Gatherer Syndrome
Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan.
When Homo Sapiens first walked the earth his instincts would have been little different from ours. What has changed since then is the potential for engaging or indulging those instincts. The Greek philosopher Aristotle identified as key motive in life that
every human being seeks happiness.
As the teacher of Alexander the Great one wonders how he assessed his pupil's achievement in conquering the known world of the time and now regretting that he had no other countries to take under control. Alexander once visited the philosopher Diogenes in Sicily, who then lived in a tub having dispensed with all worldly goods and interests. He offered Diogenes whatever gift he would wish and was respectfully asked to stand to one side out of the sunlight!
To come to our time, what do we make of those multimillionaires who have seen the assets they accumulated written off overnight? In the first place what drove them to pile up all those investments? Was it avarice or was it ambition to beat the competition-or a combination of both? Was it that they enjoyed a sense of power living in those trophy houses and feeling monarchs of all they surveyed?
It has been well agreed that power and wealth tests a man or a woman rather than weakness and poverty. Ambition and greed bring out the worst in human nature corrupting the individual and exploiting others. Perhaps what tests them even more is how they react to the loss of power and wealth.
In the media over recent months there have been some very informative interviews of multimillionaires who have had their assets written off by the recession. Many have been quite stoical, content that they still have health and family. Some have admitted that the house of cards has collapsed and left them feeling desperate. A number have confessed that their biggest trauma is disappointment for the team of workers now left jobless.
Unfortunately for all too many the inflated superficial experience of the Celtic Tiger has not been any help towards building a sane solid philosophy of life. Key to that is a sense of realism. For that this Sunday's Readings from the Book of Ecclesiastes and from the Gospel of St. Luke are certainly relevant. The refrain "Vanity of vanities. All is vanity" from the former is spelled out in the parable told by Jesus as a means of stressing priorities in human life.
"Sceptre and crown must tumble down and in the dust be equal made with the poor crooked scythe and spade". There are
no pockets in the habit, no trailer after the hearse.
To get back to Aristotle we can endorse what he says about happiness. But let it be true inner contentment not superficial pleasure. The words of Jesus in the Gospel sums it up: "My peace I give you; not as the world gives is the peace I give".
Sunday, 1st August 2010.
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