A heading on the Times of Malta said ‘Paris massacre was an attack on European values’ (November 16). European values! What exactly are they?
I don’t think we need to name them; we heard them repeatedly over the weekend.
How many times are the heads of State and of government going to replay the same phrases declaring their horror and regret and sending messages of consolation? What are they doing to safeguard these values?
Allow me to share my thoughts. Can we agree that when we look at the bigger picture, going back as far as history makes possible and stretching our imagination to generations to come, we may have a better perspective on how minute our sojourn on this planet is?
Can we also agree that throughout this span of time all the battles, from the greatest to the petty, were fought to establish power, rights and justice or because of envy, hatred and any form of passion?
Whatever the reason, there was always in play the fight of good versus evil: the most common theme in any story.
We are denying the truth of our human nature, human nature that is formed of spirit, mind and body
The tragedy of our time is that we have lost touch with the truth of our nature as human beings. We seem only capable of being concerned with our bodies and their needs. But when our spirits are attacked, as they were last Friday, we are stunned.
Yes, bodies too were subjected to ruthless cruelties but the scarring within our psyches is too painful to comprehend.
My impression is that the words ‘liberty, equality, fraternity and democracy’ sound good: ideals but not realities. Ideals, because we agree on the ‘shoulds’, but not realities, because they are not in reach for all Europeans. Why?
One reason could be because we are denying the truth of our human nature, human nature that is formed of spirit, mind and body.
Ignoring our spiritual needs – and we know they are no longer considered on the larger scale of things – diminishes our ability to cope with tragic and heartbreaking situations.
Whatever religion we belong to, we all have one thing in common, and that is a need to worship a god, as we recognise him to be. Christians, Jews and Muslims worship God, who we believe is the Creator. Others worship other gods. Some believe that they themselves form part of the source of nature; others who do not worship any form of god at all will worship idols and themselves.
The point I am trying to make is that it is intrinsically in our make-up, our human nature, to need to give worship.
The insistence on denying God and refusing Him the space to inspire us is the problem. Negating His existence removes any possibility of his leadership; refusing to recognise His identity and rejecting Him as our Father is refusing to receive His love and protection. Replacing Him with a few ungodly individuals who are clearly unable to govern and are no longer respected is a very poor judgement on our present generation.
Godly leaders will allow themselves to be inspired: we are very aware of the impact Pope Francis has on all humanity and not just on Catholics, and this because he is a man of prayer. Leaders who depend on themselves or other consultants for inspiration are shutting the taps on the essential source of life.
At this point, I wish to add a reflection which seems relevant.
When nature ceases to have any form of life in it, when it dies, it begins to smell; it changes its shape and starts to look ugly, becoming unrecognisable until it shrivels up and disintegrates.
So too is our soul when the Holy Spirit, the source of life, is no longer welcome because sin becomes its master. It goes through the same process of deterioration. Because the soul exists within the human body, its changes start to become noticeable also in the body itself.The expression on the face changes; the body starts to corrupt causing sickness; the psychological balance is lost and a general malaise is perceivable.
Our society, our governments, our nations are showing all these signs of corruption. They stink and they have grown ugly.The only remedy is to invite the Holy Spirit to come back and take His place deep within the souls of our countries and to regenerate us back to life before it is too late.
Can we at least admit that we have made incredibly bad choices in these last years? Our daily bread has become corruption and dishonesty. Just reading the newspapers is enough proof.The remedy is painless. No invasive surgery is required. All we need is to invite the Holy Spirit to come back to us, to melt our hardened hearts and fill us with joy. Is a return to prayer as a form of inspiration and healing such a risible thing? No doubt the bloggers will have a field day.
Margaret Bianchi is a volunteer with a Church organisation.