A maturing experience is one in which we are faced with a situation that requires that we make some difficult choices. Those choices are about things that cause us to decide what's important in life. They help us to discover our priorities and to then hone them. The ultimate goal of maturing, of course, is to become better men and women.
The process of maturation is the one thing that is truly timeless. Every man or woman ever born was faced with it. As a result, there is no more unifying experience than that of maturing. Older members are still maturing, but they are likely ahead of those who are younger. This means that there is a very natural mentoring relationship between the older and the younger members of a society.
When children are focused on the process of maturation, they can look to those who are older for guidance and help. As they get older themselves, they can provide basic aid and direction to those slightly younger then they are. Indeed, even helping peers will be valuable given that some learn about the lessons of life more quickly than others.
In ages past, old and young alike were busied with the task of simply staying alive. Finding food, shelter and clothing have been the primary activities of human beings until only very recently. Those are maturing activities. They cause people to face the fact that we are human, and that there is value in the cardinal virtues. Humility, chastity, charity, moderation, zeal, etc., all have clear purpose and meaning in a society that must work together in order to survive. A successful society will naturally move towards those values. A society that does not will tend to fragment, falter and crumble.
Does this mean that when we were struggling to feed, clothe and house our families that we were in some kind of nirvana? Hardly. We are human and we have always been creatures infected with sloth, greed and the other capital sins. However, the hardships of life tend to demand that we make clear choices about whether we choose vice or virtue.
Now consider the choices that we make in modern America, particularly the children's choices. Can they get the new cell phone with the television-on-demand or do they have to stay with the out-of-date phone? Are low-riders still in fashion? Will they go out for track or for soccer this year? How can they work their schedule so they can watch the latest episode of The Simpsons?
That's just the consumerist side of American life. There is a far darker side that gives children choices about who their marijuana supplier is going to be, or where they'll steal their music and movie downloads, or how to sneak down to the tattoo shop. That's the rebellious side, and it's even more frivolous and wasteful of human life than is the consumerist.
The decisions that face us, whether we are 15 or 55, are simply no longer significant. We are lost in a sea of frivolity, of meaningless choices. The people of America were once great because of the challenges that we faced. We were building a nation from a wilderness. That demanded that people take stock of that which was important to them because there were sacrifices to be made, and that required people to decide. Will I sacrifice this, or will I sacrifice that? That decision is the cornerstone of building a sense of ethics and morality.
Great nations seem to invariably fade away, either because someone with more resolve comes along, or because they collapse from within. What makes a nation great is the struggle that it faces in order to stay a nation. The very timbre of the people of that nation is defined by the struggle.
America is at the top of the heap of nations on this planet if we measure such things in terms of industrial, technological and military might. That too will fade away if we, as a nation, do not choose to undertake some great struggle.
What might that struggle be? Should it be ivory tower noble, or gritty effective? Should it be the sort that stirs the people into a frenzy of desire, or one that speaks softly to their contemplative side? If you were to set a direction for this nation, what would it be? Clean up the environment? Achieve a 100% literacy rate? Install democratic governments in every nation?
Tell me what you thing. Let me know what struggle is before us that would not only occupy the energies of the entire nation, but would also give us an opportunity to shape the character of our young people so that they will be finer individuals than we are. Think big. Think of the well-being of the nation and indeed of the entire planet. We are all neighbors here, whether we like it or not. Will we struggle against them or will be struggle with them against a common foe?
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4 comments:
Hmmm… I am not an American, but we are all neighbors just like you said. So if I were to think big and set the direction for this nation, I would definitely struggle for all the virtues, they are the main driver for any good deed. I would struggle for love, peace, & justice, for fighting the unemployment & literacy, for better education & economy, for minimizing the gap between the extremely rich and extremely poor people, for making the world just one big caring helpful country.
Thanks a lot for your thought provoking posts.
I would say that the great struggle for Americans would be with themselves. We are so "self" centered that in order to "get over" ourselves would require a herculean effort, so accustomed and so conditioned are we to satisfy our needs, and *only* our needs. If we were ever able to go from a "self" oriented mindset to a mindset in which we directed our considerable energies to helping others first, I believe that we could take the greatness of this nation to the next level. Judging by how things are now, it's going to be a long while before we get there - but I think that it's possible.
I can see that we all share a desire for people to find the best in themselves. However, the challenge that stands before us is to do a little social engineering and come up with a program or a national agenda that will help people to find the best in themselves.
We have laws. We have rhetoric. What is it that we could DO as a nation that would instill the sorts of virtues that we'd like to see? I envision a mobilization of the nation to do SOMETHING. Is it a public works project? A bit of labor and sweat to remind us of the frailty of our human bodies? Is it a vast program of undersea or space exploration that would kindle the imaginations of a new generation and challenge us technically? Is it a drive to catalog and save genetic information about every species on the planet so that no matter what befalls us, we will have saved the ark of the planet. What can we do together that will bring out the values that would make us strongest as a nation?
Interesting! I think we can start by ourselves till we find this project. We can bring out the best virtues in ourselves and teach them to our small families & friends till we can affect bigger communities afterwards. If we deal in the right way with others, we'll definitely lead them to deal the same way.
Another option is to try to let people stick to their religion, for every religion - regardless what it is - encourages and inspires people to adhere to virtues and act accordingly.
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