Nearly 60 years ago Thomas Merton wrote,
“What I am trying to say is, then, that it does us no good to make fantastic progress if we do not know how to live with it, if we cannot make good use of it, and if, in fact, our technology becomes nothing more than an expensive and complicated way of cultural disintegration … The fact remains that we have created for ourselves a culture which is not yet livable for mankind as a whole.
Never before has there been such a distance between the abject misery of the poor (still the great majority of mankind) and the absurd affluence of the rich … The problem of racism – is becoming a universal symptom of homicidal paranoia.
The fact that most men believe, as an article of faith, that we are now in a position to solve all our problems does not prove that this is so. On the contrary, this belief is so unfounded that it is itself one of our greatest problems.”
As I read these words I am struck by the notion that while human technology has made unimagined strides in the past 60 years, our shared humanity has not. Who was it who said, “Whatsoever you do to the poorest of my sisters and brothers you do to me?”
Rather than argue what will we do about this situation, I am troubled this morning by what will I do about it.
Over 3,000 years ago the famous Oracle of Delphi proclaimed, “Know Thyself.” Her advice is that knowing who we really are, our strengths and our shortcomings, what is good in us and what is not, knowing when we need help and when we don’t, is fundamental to living a flourishing life. Sage advice that could have saved Humpty Dumpty a world of hurt.
