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A Prosperous New Year
Henley Morgan
Thursday, January 03, 2008
During my high school days, there was this teacher who had a well-earned reputation for driving fear into students. One day, the teacher collared a boy who had an equally well-earned reputation for being a troublemaker. Incensed at some infraction of school rules the boy had committed, the teacher railed on him. "The devil has got hold of you. Admit it, boy." The terrified boy with eyes agape and looking the teacher squarely in the eyes responded. "Yes, Miss, it is true, and I am looking at the devil."
We have entered a new year, each to a different degree in the clutch of the devil. The need for a fresh start is symbolised by the traditional New Year celebrations. Among the oldest festivals in recorded history dating from 2000 BC in Mesopotamia, the celebrations generally include rites and ceremonies expressive of mortification, purgation and penitence for personal failings.
In one sense, the idea of a new year is as preposterous as the jubilation over the prospect of life's renewal. A revered philosopher from antiquity, Augustine, persuasively argued that while there is a convenience to thinking about time in three dimensions, "the past no longer is; the future is not yet; and the present is a timeless instant between past and future". In other words, we live in the now and it is the only thing that we truly have control over. "How can a man be born again (that is, start over) when he is old?" This question remains as perplexing today as it was when asked of Jesus by Nicodemus. But Jesus persisted, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again," if you expect to be perfected in the will of He who only is perfect (St John 3: 3 and 7).
At the risk of losing those who become bored with philosophy and even more so with theology, it is important to point out that what seems at first highly improbable is given credence by St Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 12: 2. "And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of the mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God." It is within that immaterial human faculty (the mind or the soul), where self-will resides, that renewal is possible and must occur. Thus, the puzzle is solved even for those who, like Augustine, are persuaded that time is not reality but a feature of the mind.
But let's set aside philosophising for the moment and move instead to a practical stage in the journey towards self-renewal. The images that define one's reality are mapped on to the mind by one's senses - what one sees, hears, smells, tastes and touches; in other words, one's experiences.
Humans have two separate and contrasting paths to go down in responding to the situations that confront us. We may consciously, through our thoughts or unconsciously through habit, revert to either a vice or a virtue. A vice degrades and undermines the quality of life and the relations that comprise it. On the other hand, a virtue improves and sustains the quality of life, and by extension the relations in the human family.
Pope Gregory the Great (540 - 604 AD), who had a penchant for simplifying some of life's most complex problems, identified seven virtues which in time have become standard spiritual, moral and ethical principles for daily living. These are: humility, liberality, chastity, kindness, abstinence, patience and diligence. Conversely, the seven vices to be avoided are: pride, avarice (excessive or insatiable desire for money), lust (intense longing or desire), envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth (laziness). The virtues can be considered in Christian parlance to be righteousness. And the vices, sin. Like a pendulum we swing from one side to the other in the choices we make and the actions that we pursue.
The following four ethical maxims, if adhered to, can help us govern our actions as we work towards a more virtuous life and society in 2008.
. The utilitarian principle: Act in ways that result in the greatest good for the greatest number.
. Kantz' categorical imperative: Act in such a way that the action taken under the circumstances could be a universal law or rule of behaviour.
. The professional ethic: Take only actions that would be viewed as proper by a disinterested panel of professional colleagues.
. The golden rule: Act in the way you would want others to act towards you.
Now, there are those who will want to stop reading at this point because they think they have the whole answer. Like the foolish man who built his house on a foundation of sand, they believe morality can exist outside of Christianity. The Christ-controlled Spirit is the key to a healthy mind and soul (Philippians 2: 5).
With that said and (I hope) agreed, it's only left for me to wish readers of this column A Prosperous New Year. In the context of the present discourse, the words of John the Apostle from the scriptures (3 John: 2) are most appropriate. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul (mind) prospers.
Henley Morgan
Thursday, January 03, 2008
During my high school days, there was this teacher who had a well-earned reputation for driving fear into students. One day, the teacher collared a boy who had an equally well-earned reputation for being a troublemaker. Incensed at some infraction of school rules the boy had committed, the teacher railed on him. "The devil has got hold of you. Admit it, boy." The terrified boy with eyes agape and looking the teacher squarely in the eyes responded. "Yes, Miss, it is true, and I am looking at the devil."
We have entered a new year, each to a different degree in the clutch of the devil. The need for a fresh start is symbolised by the traditional New Year celebrations. Among the oldest festivals in recorded history dating from 2000 BC in Mesopotamia, the celebrations generally include rites and ceremonies expressive of mortification, purgation and penitence for personal failings.
In one sense, the idea of a new year is as preposterous as the jubilation over the prospect of life's renewal. A revered philosopher from antiquity, Augustine, persuasively argued that while there is a convenience to thinking about time in three dimensions, "the past no longer is; the future is not yet; and the present is a timeless instant between past and future". In other words, we live in the now and it is the only thing that we truly have control over. "How can a man be born again (that is, start over) when he is old?" This question remains as perplexing today as it was when asked of Jesus by Nicodemus. But Jesus persisted, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again," if you expect to be perfected in the will of He who only is perfect (St John 3: 3 and 7).
At the risk of losing those who become bored with philosophy and even more so with theology, it is important to point out that what seems at first highly improbable is given credence by St Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 12: 2. "And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of the mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God." It is within that immaterial human faculty (the mind or the soul), where self-will resides, that renewal is possible and must occur. Thus, the puzzle is solved even for those who, like Augustine, are persuaded that time is not reality but a feature of the mind.
But let's set aside philosophising for the moment and move instead to a practical stage in the journey towards self-renewal. The images that define one's reality are mapped on to the mind by one's senses - what one sees, hears, smells, tastes and touches; in other words, one's experiences.
Humans have two separate and contrasting paths to go down in responding to the situations that confront us. We may consciously, through our thoughts or unconsciously through habit, revert to either a vice or a virtue. A vice degrades and undermines the quality of life and the relations that comprise it. On the other hand, a virtue improves and sustains the quality of life, and by extension the relations in the human family.
Pope Gregory the Great (540 - 604 AD), who had a penchant for simplifying some of life's most complex problems, identified seven virtues which in time have become standard spiritual, moral and ethical principles for daily living. These are: humility, liberality, chastity, kindness, abstinence, patience and diligence. Conversely, the seven vices to be avoided are: pride, avarice (excessive or insatiable desire for money), lust (intense longing or desire), envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth (laziness). The virtues can be considered in Christian parlance to be righteousness. And the vices, sin. Like a pendulum we swing from one side to the other in the choices we make and the actions that we pursue.
The following four ethical maxims, if adhered to, can help us govern our actions as we work towards a more virtuous life and society in 2008.
. The utilitarian principle: Act in ways that result in the greatest good for the greatest number.
. Kantz' categorical imperative: Act in such a way that the action taken under the circumstances could be a universal law or rule of behaviour.
. The professional ethic: Take only actions that would be viewed as proper by a disinterested panel of professional colleagues.
. The golden rule: Act in the way you would want others to act towards you.
Now, there are those who will want to stop reading at this point because they think they have the whole answer. Like the foolish man who built his house on a foundation of sand, they believe morality can exist outside of Christianity. The Christ-controlled Spirit is the key to a healthy mind and soul (Philippians 2: 5).
With that said and (I hope) agreed, it's only left for me to wish readers of this column A Prosperous New Year. In the context of the present discourse, the words of John the Apostle from the scriptures (3 John: 2) are most appropriate. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul (mind) prospers.