A couple of recent episodes set my mind thinking on two basic questions: ‘What do I/we want?’ or better still ‘What do I/we really want?’ (I will be using ‘we’ to represent ‘I/we’ since I feel the two are so intertwined).
In a first episode I was asking a group of children where in Malta they would define as ‘countryside’. Though they were a sizeable group I struggled to get out of them the name of a place that was not a playing field but simply open countryside.
On another occasion, namely during a funeral of a distant relative, I was amazed by the simplicity of this woman who could fill the people around her with so much love by her complete commitment to her family, and the joy this transmits.
For the purpose of this article, what I mean with ‘What do we want?’ is the immediate, day-to-day question we don’t really ask ourselves but which we simply respond to. It is a question that emerges simply from our basic needs, a question which is asked and answered simultaneously by the next advert, by the last post on my news feed, by my peer at work, by a multinational… and so on.
Somehow we get into a lifestyle of answering questions we’ve never asked ourselves deeply. We live a lifestyle of consumption and waste (just think of the things we throw away from our refrigerator) which we never even have time to question.
But what do we really want? Somehow this question asks us to delve deeper, to stop and look closer. Both as individuals and as a society we often do things we really wouldn’t choose to do if asked point blank. But somehow we fall into illusions that enslave us.
For instance, it’s true that I have a long bucket list but do I really want to look back on my life and see myself rushing from one thing to another with a restless heart?
I was always struck by how many times Jesus asked this question in his encounters
It’s true that I don’t want to lose my pride but do I want to carry grudges throughout my life?
It’s true I want the cheapest utility rates possible but do I want it at the expense of a healthy environment?
It’s true that we want our children to get the best out of all opportunities in life but do I want them to grow without an experience of their natural surroundings, without some time to appreciate the family itself?
It’s true I just want to eat what I feel like but if I get to know that what I am eating or consuming comes from unfair treatment of farmers, do I really want it?
Why do we not ask ourselves this second question more frequently? Don’t we know it often leads to a greater, long-lasting peace, in the present and in the future?
We are often simply too busy, and we’d rather continue living in our comfort zone without questioning deeper. We like to live illusions because they protect us from being involved too much. Somehow we’d rather live a life decided by policies and adverts than going deeper, getting more involved and living life in its ‘fullness’.
We live this both on the individual, familiar level as well as the societal level. We know there are consequences for our personal actions, we know that what politicians decide for us or what producers put in our food will have its consequences… and yet we remain silent.
‘What do we want?’ or ‘What do we really want?’
I was always struck by how many times Jesus asked this question in his encounters, and I’m convinced that in our relationship with him, in our relationship with our God, who is Trinity, community, we should always ask this question to live a deeper life, to truly live life to the full for us and those around us.
And let’s not fall into false illusions: it is possible for us as individuals and as a society to live life to the full.
tonimifsud@yahoo.com