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Recently, my brother sent me something that got me
thinking. It was a quote from Reinhold Niebuhr. Here it is in part: “Nothing
that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved
by hope… Nothing we do, however
virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the
standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form
of love, which is forgiveness.”
That’s a lot to digest.
But, if you can accept the first sentence – embrace the notion that
civil society can achieve great things -- then you must accept the rest of the
statement. And, if you do, you are forced to elevate your expectations – our
expectations – of others and ourselves.
Much of our lives are governed by the drive to attain
credentials. We measure our kids by their grades, success at sports and SAT
scores. We measure ourselves by an
endless stream of degrees, titles, certifications and awards all of which are
beautifully presented on our LinkedIn profiles.
Is that how you value yourself?
C’mon… really?
Life isn’t about how we’re graded; it’s about who we
are. And, who we are is very complicated. Most of our mind is occupied by the
unconscious. While our analytical mind
expresses logic and reason, our emotions assign value and are the basis for
reason. We progress as individuals or as
a society when reason incites passion.
So, what incites our passion? How do we undertake great initiatives that
realize the promise of Niebuhr’s assertion?
Western society is programmed according to “humanist”
tradition, a philosophy that emphasizes the value of people both individually
and collectively. The tenets of humanism
can be traced to the ancient Greek philosophers and they re-emerge throughout
history. Humanism survived the Dark Ages
and was reincarnated through the British Enlightenment during the 17th
Century – through the works of John Locke, Adam Smith and Scot David Hume. It evolved in the 18th Century in
the French Enlightenment of Rousseau and Voltaire. It took form in the Declaration of
Independence authored by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
The notion of human rights is powerfully attractive, not
only to us in the West but also, to people the world over. Wherever religious conflict arises, tolerance
is urged. The concept of self-rule,
championed by Jefferson and Voltaire, is fundamental to the Arab Spring. Although European in their origin, these
ideas now form the basis on which the international community judges nations.
Exemplary of Niebuhr’s thinking, the hopes of the Age of Enlightenment have taken many lifetimes to spread the world over.
A great quote from the Iron Lady (a movie about the life of
former British PM Margaret Thatcher) expresses it thusly: “Watch your thoughts,
for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your
actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your
character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we
think, we become.”
Our conscious mind craves money and
success. Yet, at a deeper level, we seek
moments of transcendence. Most people
cannot achieve the promise of Thatcher’s words – what we think, we become. It is rarer still that what we think can be
captured and expressed so eloquently that it influences world events for
generations. Yet, the inexorable surge
for freedom, equal rights and tolerance continues.
The 20th Century was
dominated by tumultuous events that distracted us from our core human values of
tolerance and hope. The first quarter of
the century was shaped by the collapse of both the Hapsburg and Ottoman
Empires. It was followed by economic
depression and holocaust. The second
half was subsumed in a monumental struggle between two great nuclear
powers.
The post-Cold War era has brought us
economic prosperity followed by collapse.
The end of the old world order has brought us terrorism and war.
Yet, I have hope. Hope that civil society will prevail in
accordance with humanist tradition. Hope
that we will continue to evolve according to the tenets of tolerance and self-rule. Those ideas are part of our DNA. That they have been expressed in so many ways
for thousands of years is ample evidence.
The only question is: WHO WILL LEAD?
