We belong to each other. We must not act as though we have no resources and energies to count on. Our intellectual heritages and spiritual traditions provide enormous valuable assets on which we can build. We are not helpless.
How little do we realize that we have immense resources and live immersed in a sea of energy. This store of assets primarily belongs to the entire human family. Nature has been so designed that a significant portion of what is destined for me is part of your asset, and what is meant to enrich you is given to me.
God distributed his gifts to us in this manner so that we may share our natural resources, intellectual competencies, technical skills, or geographical space. The mistake I make is wanting to take it from you by force. You may make a similar mistake or stubbornly refuse to share.
Joy is in discovering each other’s resources and competencies with genuine appreciation, and putting them in constructive relationships: sharing ideas, harmonising interests, eliciting collaboration, re-shaping policies, and stimulating creativity.
This is what we do in humble ways in families and parish circles. We can also take the same attitude to our parliaments and universities, as well as to UNESCO and UN sessions. We are citizens of the world, co-responsible for global affairs. Just as we get over a family quarrel at home or group competition between parish service teams, we are called to exert an influence to prevent trade wars between nations and Gaza-like situations. Our enlightened opinion counts!
Yes, we are mutually dependent. Our destinies are interlinked. We belong to each other. Nature gives us models of several patterns of inter-relationships and integrated systems: atoms, molecules, organs, body; individuals, families, tribes, societies, and nations.
As the material world is made up of an inseparable network of linkages, and as the human body and nature itself are self-regulating systems, in the same way, we belong to each other in an intimate fashion within the human family. We see that whatever happens in society speaks of connectedness, relationship, and interdependence.
Life then is not a competitive struggle, but a cooperative venture, each person and community with diverse competencies, resources and experiences playing a complementary role with the other, like musicians in a concert. The present polarised situation in many places is inviting us to play a bridge-building role between different parts of the world, different schools of thought, different economic and political interests… more especially between respected traditional ideas and new critical insights.
Our mission is to bring different human activities into healthy and stimulating relationships among themselves: e.g., competitive commerce must be attentive to ethical values, and scientific and technological research must respect spiritual search.
Similarly, even our prestigious and advanced institutions must remain close to challenging, painful, and even ugly human realities in order to be relevant and helpful. Aggressive forces in society need to be softened, painful memories healed, space for reasoning widened, confidence restored, and a future of harmony constructed together.
How powerful are these words of Pope Francis, “Life grows by being given away… Indeed, those who enjoy life most are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of communicating life to others” (Evangelii Gaudium n. 10). Curiously, when a person is lost in total dedication to others, he/she has an intense feeling that he/she is loved and cared for!
In every society, there is a creative minority that spontaneously emerges, taking risks and proposing new solutions to new problems. If you feel urged to belong to this small, generous, and creative minority, do not refuse the call. It is challenging but rewarding.
Our togetherness should be centred around the common good and shared human values based on faith, not selfish interests. Notice in the world today a steady erosion of ethical values based on faith. This is truly undermining our future. It has become a core Christian concern to defend the moral heritages of communities that are under threat and redeem values that are perishing.
It was like that moment of helplessness when Jesus told the young man, “Get up” (Luke, 7:14). May we experience a genuine re-awakening of the Spirit in our days, and may the world rejoice to say, “Great prophets have arisen among us,” and “God has visited his people” (Luke, 7:16). (Thomas Menam Param, former Archbishop of Guwahati, India).
