MtM 42 - When every person is family

All people are called to contribute to mankind’s mission, each in his or her own way. But what is this mission, you might ask? Allow me to suggest this statement, “Mankind’s mission is to rule over and care for creation, bringing God’s image to the world.” There is a unity of mission across the world – perhaps even across the universe – with a variety of responsibilities and tasks. Since cooperation is a source of encouragement for everyone, it is important each person recognizes the significance and impact of his contribution. If our personal mission is to serve other people, then attention should be directed, firstly, to the needs of brothers and sisters who live inside our community and, secondly, to those who are outside. The old-school among us will recall that, since medieval times, the “corporal works of mercy” were essential deeds that would merit one a place in Heaven. Frankly, this concept sounds rather outdated and in need of a make-over.

I don’t mean to say the acts of mercy are obsolete, but the promise of heaven is too strange to inspire action today. I do not doubt charitable intervention is vital for society: feeding, clothing and sheltering the needy; visiting the sick and imprisoned; bringing hope to those grieving and suffering. What I don’t understand is why a reward is necessary, when Heaven remains forever unfathomably beyond comprehension. Would parents love children more if offered a bigger home or a better car? Is heroic patriotism motivated by prize, or justice by treasure? On the other hand, it escapes me why some people swiftly become charitable when diagnosed with a terminal illness. In this respect motivation is everything. If we assist others for a reward, then we are like mercenaries selling ourselves to the highest bidder. Likewise, is it humanitarian work if we seek promotion or election? Our motivation must be sincere for our actions to be worthy.

Everyone must do their part to improve society by offering their time, talent and treasure. Let’s build our future by correcting social structures that are unjust, create exploitation, force subjection and are labeled deceptively as “just the way things are.” I looked below a row of parked motorcycles: there were cigarette butts, cans, candy wrappers, even one sandal. Why? Since nobody took ownership of that gutter, it has fallen into indifference and abandonment. Further, there’s a careless father who, every night, flicks a spent cigarette downstairs before entering his home. Would he do it inside? Humanitarianism takes the care we have for our home, the love we have for our family, the pride we have in our achievements and makes them a lifestyle. Only when every service is respectful, every place is home, every person is family, will we be able to truly say, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

MtM 41 - When a match is struck

It occurred to me that to remain relevant, and offer truly life-changing results, faith should be viewed in a fresh light. If we wish to renew the spirit and integrate it in our daily life, we might consider changing the fixation with “Sin and Salvation” into a focus on “Solidarity and Service”. When obsessing about sin, people are caught up with self-salvation or a personal desire for eternity without raising their eyes towards others. A wiser approach is to contemplate the deep connection a mother has with her child, caring, rejoicing and wishing every good for her baby. Which mother wants to be saved whilst her daughter is lost? The Hebrew word for compassion derives from "rehem", which means womb. Therein a woman discovers an unconditional love she never thought she was capable of – fiercely protective and ardently passionate. We men instead have much to learn, emotionally and spiritually, from the wondrous dedication of maternal love.

If only we could harness the power of this love, mankind would be free of a weight of chains that fetters feelings and restricts potential. In truth, everyone is connected to everyone else, like mothers to children. We all carry inside at least one piece of somebody else’s puzzle. We are all incomplete until these parts connect, as they do in friendship and marriage. Sometimes we know we are incomplete alone, sometimes we don’t. A marvelous connection is made when we offer a piece of our puzzle to someone else, like mothers to their babies. When you present that piece, freely and spontaneously, the receiver is strengthened, renewed and transformed. In that moment we are to others a spark of divinity and become messengers from that which resides eternally. This demonstrates how faith is above all a relationship, a connection that unites and nurtures, a community that welcomes everyone into a bountiful circle of solidarity and support.

Any loving relationship becomes a light in our life. It brightens our world and defines who we are in relation to everybody else around us. Love is the only acceptable orientation to life. It is the core of being, the source of action and the summit towards which we ascend. Love starts with a free and willing devotion to others, but its essence is manifested through action. To paraphrase the French philosopher Jean Guitton, love is a choice between two solutions: absurdity and mystery. If love is absurd, then the world remains bound up in a weight of chains, a depressing and impenetrable wall against which mankind crashes miserably. Instead, if love is a mystery, it is comparable to when a match is struck and brilliant light dispels darkness. My enduring wish is to encourage others to break their chains. May we turn towards the light and climb towards the Ocean of Love in which, one day, all the hatred of the world will surely be plunged and nullified.

MtM 40 - If the world ended today

Since the dawn of human history, something like 110 billion human beings were born into this world and very few lived over 100 years. There are 7 billion people on the planet today and a staggering 60 million die each year. Sixty million people! That comes down to 160,000 a day. I remember hearing this saying when I was young, "We live alone and we die alone.” Since then I haven’t stopped wrestling with this thorny concept. What puzzles me is everyone must swallow the bitter pills of life without any certitude about what follows. Whoever devised this system thought it best this way, though everyone alive would beg to differ. However, any change we are likely to make would be catastrophic. Since we are obviously blind about eternity, we would inflict this myopia onto the planet. Already we have failed to balance the crowds without homes, jobs and food with skyrocketing rents, overpaid executives and mountains of dumped resources. 

Now is the right time to encourage our children to devote part of their life to the pursuit of improving the human condition through social justice. They will soon appreciate how immensely gratifying it is to make a personal contribution through inclusiveness, compassion and respect. Then they will enjoy significantly lower levels of anxiety and commensurately higher satisfaction, confidence and happiness. Marcel Proust was once asked, “If the world ended today, what would you do in your last hours?” He replied, “Life would suddenly seem wonderful to us if we were threatened with sudden death. Just think how many project, travels, friendships our life hides from us, made invisible by our laziness, which, certain of the future, delays them incessantly. But let all this threaten to become impossible forever, how wonderful life would become again!” May he inspire us to progress towards what will still have meaning for us in one hundred years.

Fooled by financial prowess, advanced nations fight constantly a greed that fosters segregation and perpetuates exploitation. Today’s unsustainable addiction to economic growth hides the quicksand of stress, indebtedness and waste. It’s easy not to sympathize with the plight of the dispossessed. Besides, who decided to equate mankind’s progress with economics? What will it take to challenge these abusive structures? When will the ruling elite reform their priorities to respect the intrinsic rights of the people? If the health of a generation is judged by its children’s values, we are all witness of our predecessors. So are we ascending in a virtuous cycle or descending in a vicious one? I am an optimist and encouraged by observing our youth’s idealism and concerns. The issue isn’t whether they receive enough education, but whether they are suitably guided by their parents. Remember, if we don’t inspire their future, the world will do it.

MtM 39 - Be kind whenever possible

The greatest challenge for our generation is to build peace in society. Without peace we collapse into the horrors broadcasted on the evening news. Across the globe, religion often gets in the way of common sense and decency. It leads people to war over intolerant convictions. Rather than being consumed by dogmatism, fixating on the superiority of my faith versus your faith, let’s build bridges of understanding. Let’s concentrate on our fragile humanity that is caught up and inextricably bound up in theirs. Religion started without books and can most certainly flourish without them. Religion loses its way when holy writings ignite hateful wars. The story is told about a contemporary of Jesus, Rabbi Hillel, who was asked by a gentile to sum up Judaism in the time he could stand on one leg. “That’s simple – he replied – Don’t do to others what you would hate being done to you. That is the Law and everything else is just commentary.”

The way we live, the way we treat others, the way we rise above selfish interest and misguided prejudice, these reflect our true spirituality. You’re not a Christian, if you put yourself first. And you’re not a Muslim, if you don’t help your sisters. You’re not a Hindu, if you cheat. You’re not a Jew, if you lie. You’re not a Buddhist, if you take revenge. The conditional “if” reminds us that, when we fail, we are doomed to start all over again. To appreciate this means to apply it every waking minute. As the Dalai Lama said, “Be kind whenever possible ... it’s always possible!” As human beings we are vulnerable to failure, so the conditional “if” offers a moment to reflect, a pause to choose compassion before failing. Kindness is the essence of religion. By cultivating genuine empathy towards others, we create deep, sincere relationships. Kindness came before scripture and liturgy. Compassion is the real building block of churches, temples and shrines.

I’m privileged to run a refugee shelter. On the coldest night in January, the mercury hovering in single digits, I was delighted that every bed was occupied and twelve, otherwise homeless men, were sleeping comfortably. It was Chinese New Year and I visited them to share a festive meal. They came from Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Uganda and Burundi. They enjoyed different cultural heritage, but had one thing in common: a suffering humanity. Through my work I learn how solidarity, cooperation and compassion unite these people who thoughtfully share clothes and shoes, as well as food and advice. In the best days of their life, before today’s suffering, maybe they wouldn’t have spared a second glance at each other. Instead, through collective adversity they have discovered the essence of charity. They learnt that life is a mysterious journey, during which kindness removes fear and insecurity and gives everyone strength to face the future.

MtM 38 - The Golden Rule

At the heart of every system of belief there is a moral core uniting all religions. Known as The Golden Rule, it is a fundamental principle of every faith. The rule is as simple as it is brilliant. It teaches, “Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t have others do to you.” Just imagine how you would feel if somebody did something nasty or hurtful to you. This will help you think twice before doing the same to others. How can we condemn this rule? It’s so universal that literally every faith has discovered and included it in its teachings. Appreciated as a mutual concept, it establishes common ground between all religious people: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist. It diminishes the prejudice that misleads everyone into believing their own superiority. Since sacred scripture always become a stumbling block, instead of debating holy books, let’s focus on how we treat others and how we apply the Golden Rule in each personal encounter.

I believe there is no better way to foster peace. Every major world religion has expressed this principle by refining its version in either the positive form, “Always treat others as you would like to be treated” or the negative form, “Don’t do to others what you would not like them do to you.” So please consider your actions and ponder their consequences. If they would hurt you on the receiving end, then hold back and control yourself. Don’t inflict that suffering on others. It really couldn’t be simpler, yet for centuries people struggled to apply this theory. The venerable Confucius said the rule must be applied all day and every day. All sages and wisemen across the ages implemented it as a way to dethrone egotism from the centre of consciousness and crown compassion as master of existence. Its mastery helps to familiarized believers with the divine, called in different languages: Vishnu, Allah, Nirvana, Jehovah, Bhagwan, Rama, Tao and God.

Next time you encounter believers of other faiths – a common experience in multicultural, multiethnic Hong Kong – don’t worry whether they are Catholic or Protestant, Shia or Sunni, Hindu or Sikh, Buddhist or Taoist. Yours is not the only spiritual path and others are not lost. There is nothing more divisive than thinking in these terms, as nobody can persuade others to change religion through rational proof alone. The parable of the “Good Samaritan” holds the key to this dilemma. If you were lying on the roadside, robbed, beaten and bleeding, would you worry about your rescuer’s faith? Would you debate reincarnation, scripture or prophets? Would you refuse help and bandages, if you didn’t see eye to eye? When faithfully applying the Golden Rule in every encounter – treating people whoever they might be as precious as ourselves – we are contributing to a peaceful and unprejudiced world nurtured rightly for future generations. 

MtM 37 - The rain comes

The observation is often made that privilege comes with responsibility. Let’s also add that blessings come with obligations. When saying we are blessed with something, let’s pause to reflect on why we are able to say this in the first place. My reflection followed the news of a reality show pulled from Brazilian TV following widespread complaints. It featured a-day-in-the-life of billionaire housewives in that country of extreme poverty. These ladies’ scandalous ostentation grated on viewer’s sensitivity to the point of open revolt. The producers, who initially thought the socially irresponsible lifestyle was entertaining, succumbed to widespread opposition against these ladies’ disregard of poverty. When a protagonist arrogantly claimed, “I’m blessed with a wonderful life”, she set a high-water-mark of indifference to the essence of privilege. It’s easy for anyone to shirk his duty to uphold the rights of the under-privileged he encounters.

How often are blessings misinterpreted? How often does prosperity foster arrogance? How often does success lead to pride? It’s the twisted view of privilege that subverts the essence and purpose of personal blessings. No matter whether it is health, family, intelligence, education or wealth, everything under the sun is nothing but vanity. If it doesn’t foster introspection and service, we got it wrong. If it doesn’t encourage compassion and a desire for justice, we got it wrong. When blessings are kept selfishly, they tarnish our humanity by eroding true potential and restricting growth. Moving from the personal sphere to the global, there is sufficient food to feed everyone, but rich countries warehouse the superfluous; there are adequate resources for everybody to live comfortably, but witness the intolerable Rich-Poor divide; there is opportunity for everyone to work productively, but politics and corruption ensure poverty is perpetuated.

There are sufficient books to teach every child, but sadly decent schools are barred to most. Even good health has become a blessing for those who can afford insurance, while perhaps the next young Einstein chokes in a sweatshop. I believe Earth’s riches were distributed unevenly so that man might share them more equitably and human talents were bestowed unequally, so that man might deploy them more generously. With this comes the searing realization that every blessing is a generosity test – for as freely as we received, must we give! Every time we allow privilege to fly in the face of justice, an opportunity is lost and mankind fails its greatness. Seen in this light, the conviction emerges that people with greater blessings will be measured by a higher standard than others. Since blessings are a debt, let’s reflect on the obligations coupled with ours, because we are the rain that comes to transform and regenerate the land of need.

MtM 36 - Beware of the Procrustean nightmare

An enduring myth, frequently repeated in popular media, is that we only use 10% of our brain. This statement originated with the pioneering psychologist William James, who once wrote: "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources." This low percentile was popularized deceptively by psychics and mediums who supported their paranormal claims by rooting them in this logic. They contended that, if people use only 10% of their brain, then imagine what they could do with the other 90%. While we still know as little about the function of the brain, as we do about the dynamics of atoms and the mechanics of the universe, we should beware of allowing superstition to creep into our consciousness. It’s surprising how magic practices, rites and amulets hold an irrational grip on those who question religion. Many, who dismiss God as an irrelevant delusion, retain a deep respect for superstition.

In today’s fiercely rational digital age, superstition remains perniciously rooted in the general psyche: fortune-tellers entice and seduce; horoscopes are avidly read in magazines and online; astrological websites are thriving; clairvoyants email their zealous, paying subscribers. We know people who invite geomancers to arrange their office and pick auspicious dates for important events, despite professing distrust in everything religious. Undoubtedly, people sense the effect of mysterious powers in their lives and, instead of being theologically alert, they attempt to control, divert and even oppose these powers. Do they fear malevolent spirits? Are they trying to gain favors? Are they fighting supernatural influence with human power? What then marks the difference between common superstition and dark magic? Whatever form they take, these insidious practices endorse the spiritual as something to be feared, to be battled and controlled.

Only a distorted reality emerges from the perilous practice of tailoring spirituality to fit every personal whim and fancy. When a system of belief is syncretized by embracing the desirable and rejecting the undesirable … like celebrating Christmas with presents, but avoiding church … then beware of the Procrústean nightmare! In Greek mythology, Procrústes was a wicked bandit who butchered travelers by stretching or cutting their legs to fit them into his iron bed. Each victim was mutilated to conform to one agonizing standard. Superstition has the same effect on faith by cutting off what is perceived as hindrance and embracing what should instead be renounced. In this self-reliant, individualistic age, spirituality should be appreciated as a relationship uniting God and believer in a mutual commitment of love expressed unambiguously through action. For only through spirituality, not superstition, can mankind develop a fulfilling and lasting happiness.

MtM 35 - A record-breaking bagel

Every Christian, no matter how separated by land, culture and time, shares a strong conviction: we believe God’s presence is experienced in our lives, indeed in human history. We believe God invites us to respond to his love with faith and integrity. This divine call communicates life by revealing a presence that permeates our existence, a friendship that expresses his will, an inspiration that manifests his wisdom. In a similar way that Scripture is “God’s Word in human words”, so our existence should become “God’s Will in human actions”. The greatest burden is not religious obligation, but rather its very absence, that invariably condemns the spiritually bankrupt to the clutches of materialism. Despite prophetic exhortations, ancient Israelites also sought their pleasure on Sabbath. They forsook religious duties by defiantly devising clever ways around the demands of their faith – the clash between worship and egotism had begun.

Ancient rabbis took great pains to enforce religious participation. However, violators went to even greater lengths to achieve their objectives. At first, it wasn’t sufficient to merely prohibit work, because some would say they carried tools for future jobs. Then, it wasn’t enough to prohibit carrying burdens, as cheeky fellows would claim items weren’t heavy, or were portable, or were edible, or that money wasn’t a burden. Excuses became so creative that even rings had to be banned, because people deposited them as cash collateral to be redeemed in the week. Incredibly, there came a time when beggars and tramps were expelled from streets on the Sabbath to avoid giving people pretexts to carry money for alms-giving. It became apparent religious obligation was captive to a shameless ingenuity that aimed to systematically flout people’s duties towards God and community – already the spirit of the law had been distorted.

In the course of time, the height of ridicule was achieved with a record-breaking bagel. People realized that the prohibition to carry burdens only applied to public spaces, not to private ones. Consequently, villagers on nearby streets conceived a cunning plan. Each household contributed a pinch of flower to bake one bagel. That bagel was hung at the main junction with long pieces of string stretching out to define an extended “private home.” There, at last, anyone could carry on with business as usual. This practice turned public streets into private grounds and religious prohibition into a mockery. Since there is no end to human scheming, we are reminded that if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the constraints of the Law. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon us to actualize a single, supreme commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind … and love your neighbour as yourself!” 

MtM 34 - Protect us from all anxiety

Legend has it that when an Egyptian Pharaoh was on his deathbed, he summoned to his side three wise advisors and inquired, “What will happen when I die?” The most senior and trusted sage then replied hesitantly, “Your Majesty, Lord of all Nations, when you stand before the god of your people, he will ask you two questions. Your answers to these questions will determine what happens for eternity.” Hearing this, the puzzled Pharaoh asked apprehensively, “What will these questions be?” Summoning courage and diplomacy, the sage replied, “Firstly, God will ask you, ‘Were you happy in life?’ Since Your Majesty rules a prosperous land, an affirmative reply is expected. The subsequent question will be the crucial one. God will ask, ‘As I blessed you with so much happiness, how many people did you make happy?’” The Pharaoh closed his eyes and an air of palpable despair wrinkled his forehead as he gasped for his last distressed breaths.

Stories like this stand testament to an enduring anxiety about the meaning of life as we struggle to find answers. Yet for king and pauper there is but one way into this world and one way out. We are all like the Pharaoh, when alienation from God leads to ignorance of his precepts and to dependence on intelligence, technology and medicine. The arrow of time ensures that each moment passes and never returns, so the wise do well to ponder the consequences of their actions. It’s true that nobody can avoid worries, fears and sleepless nights, until what is of earth returns to earth and what is from above returns above. Besides, increased anxiety is caused by the many counterfeit gods in this throwaway culture, who might even outnumber the idols of past millennia. They deceive people by confusing man’s limited capacity to transcend himself, with his anxiety to control existence until the end – in a hopeless attempt at self-deification.

Back in 1989, a wise Argentinean, who gave me my first job in town, told me, “It doesn’t matter if you are the Pope or a prisoner, everyone carries through life an invisible bucket of worries. The only difference is what you decide to carry in it – as everyone’s bucket is full!” During Sunday’s communion rite, my attention is frequently caught by the second part of the petition: "In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior." In point of fact, though sin is a genuine concern, the lack of serenity in modern life is the greatest inhibitor of human accomplishment. If we seek to change the heart, to strengthen willpower and to conform to holy habits, firstly we must destroy the fretful windmills against which we tilt our worries. Let us pray for serenity and avoid the delusion that we can achieve happiness on our own, without trusting in God alone.

From the book of Judith comes deep wisdom, “Listen to me! What you have said to the people today is not right. You have sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the Lord helps us within five days. Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs? You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind. How do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? No! Do not anger the Lord our God! For if he does not choose to help us within these five days, he has power to protect us within any time he pleases. Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God – for God is not like a human being, to be threatened, or like a mere mortal, to be won over by pleading. Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice – if and when it pleases him.”

MtM 33 - Pity the crabs

If you could be, have or create anything, what would it be? Now imagine … beyond nature and physics … beyond reality and experience … What would you do? Do you wish for Midas’ touch? Would you seek immortality? Traverse space or time? Create a new universe and call yourself king or queen? Paradoxically, we know what God would do as he did it. He created a beautiful, habitable planet hurtling through dark desolation. Here, the life-giving passion of Love is more adamant, fierce and intense, than its great opposite, Death. Against a backdrop of inhospitable space, he created beauty and laughter, friendship and hope to stimulate reflection beyond the 92 chemical elements that emerged from stardust to constitute matter. The Creator determined that both the atomic particles, shared by all creatures, and the genetic code, established for growth, should reveal something astounding about his design and the fulfillment of his vision.

Filled with beauty and possibility, this planet could have been perfect, but God decided it should be otherwise. He could have created excellence, but that doesn’t required evolution. He could have removed chaos and suffering, but he knew better than that. The truth is, nothing good is achieved without effort and striving. Every element in this world needs to overcome the barriers that divide them. Every human being must seek perfection by first establishing strong and vital bonds with others; thus, friendships are struck, families start and history gradually unfolds in a way we could never conceive. If the distress of its opposite didn’t exist, happiness would mean nothing. Without delicate discovery and precious progression, love would mean nothing. And so, no light was as dazzling as the one that swept away primordial darkness. Honestly, would man fully treasure life and its gifts, without being confounded by the permanence of its eventual loss?

Pity the crabs I saw struggling to escape from a bucket, at a seafood restaurant down the road. When one clambered over some to reach the edge, others grabbed it back and pulled it down, so that none reached freedom. Pity the crabs that struggle with each other, despite having four legs to advance and four legs to pull others up. Why is there suffering? Why is there war? Why are entire economies collapsing like dominos? Why do the gifted declining their responsibility towards the suffering? On a certain horizon of understanding, human beings behave like crabs, in a bucket that is twelve thousand kilometers wide and also offers no freedom outside it. Pity the crabs who don’t know any better than stepping over each other in a frenzy that guarantees collective demise. But, shame on those who should know better than scrambling the heights of greed, power and lust, whilst trampling underfoot the fulfillment of a greater vision.

From the book of Sirach: “The Lord created human beings out of earth, and makes them return to it again. He gave them a fixed number of days, but granted them authority over everything on the earth. He endowed them with strength like his own, and made them in his own image. Discretion and tongue and eyes, ears and a mind for thinking he gave them. He filled them with knowledge and understanding, and showed them good and evil. He put the fear of him into their hearts to show them the majesty of his works. And they will praise his holy name, to proclaim the grandeur of his works. He bestowed knowledge upon them, and allotted to them the law of life. He established with them an eternal covenant, and revealed to them his decrees. Their eyes saw his glorious majesty, and their ears heard the glory of his voice. He said to them, ‘Beware of all evil.’ And he gave commandment to each of them concerning neighbours. Their ways are always known to him; they will not be hidden from his eyes.”