Possessions not the measure of who or what we are

Below is the 'Thinking Anew' column in today's Irish Times. Page 15 Weekend Review.

Michael Commane

Some  people  say that we should never worry about the things of this world, instead concentrate on the next.

Whatever your “take” on this, it’s factual to say that there are people who perceive that God is all about the next world and has nothing to do with the here and now.

 tomorrow’s Gospel (Matthew 6: 24 – 34) Jesus tells us not to worry about the things of this world. And he gives examples from nature and suggests that we can take a hint or two from the birds, “they do not sow, they do not harvest and do not store food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them”. And in a similar tone he cites the flowers in the field, who “do not toil or spin” and yet they manage to grow.

It would be close to nonsensical to say that there is not a tension between the notion of a God “out there” and God who is present in our world. Everything to do with faith involves tension, complication, unease.

People have human rights. As Christians we can only be ashamed that there are one billion people in the world without enough to eat.

But we have also to be ashamed and critical that we live in a country where over 12 per cent of the workforce are unemployed, where people are left waiting on hospital trolleys for hours on end.

Can a Christian sit easily knowing that some have far too much and others far too little?

Of course we have an obligation to care for ourselves and see to it that we live in a society that seeks the common good.

Parents have the privilege and obligation to care for their children, to educate them and set them on a road whereby they can reach their full potential.

It would be unwise for working people not to make sure to plan ahead so that they can live in dignity in their years of retirement.

The assistant manager of our national soccer team, Roy Keane said wise words immediately after the Saipan incident: “If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.”

Accurate and so true. And no one wants to fail. No one should fail.

But there is always that $60,000 question: when is enough enough? Maybe it is an impossible question to answer. It certainly seems wrong that so few have so much and so many so little. But no matter how much we might have or not have, it is important that we realise that all our material possessions are never the measure of who or what we are. And it certainly is a mistake so easy to make. We do it all the time.

When we are confronted with issues of health we are inclined to say that ‘our health is our wealth’. And that certainly reminds us how we can spend so much time and energy concentrating on issues which, in the end, seem like sand falling through our fingers.

Visiting the sick, listening to the experiences of people who suffer various forms of pain and suffering, always remind us how fragile we all are. Indeed, a glimpse into suffering and pain can be moments of grace.

Over the last five years we have seen so many worlds turned upside down. So much of what was taken as the gold certainties of life have collapsed. We have run from one seeming security to the next, always hoping that we had found ‘that magic safety’.

We never do. But in the meantime we can allow ourselves to be challenged by the Word of God. We can try to be more at ease with the world about us and marvel in the greatness and goodness of the world, all the time hoping and praying that in some way or other it is a sign or a pointer to the greatness and goodness of God.

All creation is the handiwork of God. We are in process, on pilgrimage, focused on all aspects of God’s creation.