A heart for social transformation

‘…one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions..’ (Luke 12:15)

Luke 12:13-21 (Year C: Trinity+10)

O yes – more family feuds have been fought over dead persons’ estates (or persons thought likely to be dead in the not too distant future).

Many refer to this short passage in the 12^th chapter of Luke’s gospel as the ‘Parable of the Rich Fool’. There is potential for being the ‘rich fool’ in any of us given circumstances and opportunity. We might read this passage as a rejection of ‘worldly goods’ along with a call to radical self-imposed austerity.  True, the Christ we meet in Luke’s gospel is not particularly congenial to rich people – especially when they put their riches before all else. Many see in Luke’s gospel a call to radical social transformation (even revolution) in the here and now to overturn oppressive regimes and social orders that conflict with human dignity and rights. However, we need to take care in not turning these sacred texts into a type of religious political manifesto for some 21^st century movement. The gospels – as the original Greek term means (euangellion or ‘good message’) – is a message written at one moment in human history but which speaks of eternal truths and values in all times and places (posing a big challenge for postmodernity!). We must hear again the truths and values of the gospel – written as they were in a particular culture and time.

Follow your heart?

Follow your ‘heart’ and not just your ‘head’ is good advice. However, our ‘heart’ needs to be tuned to truth and love which we find in God alone.  The writers of Ecclesiastes puts it this way (11:9 using NIV version of the Bible):

You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the ways of your youth.  Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

It is indeed a lovely thing to follow our heart. But, we need a head screwed on above it!  We need, too, to ground our heart-full and heartfelt journey with prayer, the sacraments and spiritual friendship that knows how to alert us to the pitfalls.  In all of the gospel, including, Luke the ‘heart’ plays a central role as it is referred to in many places:

..so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too. (Luke 2:35)

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.. (Luke 6:45)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

The heart is where corruption and love contend with each other. It is the seat of human action.  We may strive – in vain to change social conditions – and run up against the wall of human evil as the sad history of the rise and fall of Leninist socialism in the 20^th century illustrated all too well.

Education of people in their ‘heads’ is not enough. Education and practice of the ‘heart’ is a vital component of a truly well educated people. Is it not significant many PhD’s were gathered at the 1942 Wannsee conference in Germany to plan and implement the ‘Final Solution’?

On a less dramatic note, how do we reconcile that fact that most of those who in some way played a significant role in the financial meltdown along with financial corruption of the 2008-2010 period were ‘well educated’ persons who went to particular schools and colleges and were by all accounts worthy pillars of society?

Heart-full and social

Yet, a focus on personal, individual or local community morality is not enough. Our love – to be meaningful – needs to extend out to the whole world. We need to understand and contend with those oppressive social structures whether in the domains of consumption, investment, trade, taxation, the law and corporate governance. Heart, community and societal transformation are of one seamless robe.

There has been much talk, of late, about Gross Domestic Product and associated concepts as well as the underlying ‘real economy’ of Ireland (GDP is now touching quarter of a trillion  Euro in the Republic of Ireland). At the same time, abroad, there has been much talk about global economic risks, terrorism, the environment, migration, very questionable populisms and much else. A timely quote from the late Robert Kennedy in a speech given in March 1968 (Remarks at the University of Kansas, March 18, 1968) is in order:

….the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.  It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. 

The equivalent of GDP at the level of household or individual is what we call total personal income.  It is made up of two components – what we pay in taxes for public services and what we retain for individual consumption or saving. How much do people need to live a life consistent with dignity in a given society?  There is no simple answer to this question. It all depends. However, we may note from a careful reading of Luke’s gospel that Jesus distinguishes between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. If we read on to the rest of chapter 12 we hear Jesus saying:

For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. (Luke 12:30)

What we strictly ‘need’ and ‘want’ are not same thing.  For this reason the Advertising Industry plays on a certain ambiguity in this regard. Foreign to the notion of sufficiency is ‘more and more’. In pursuit of an illusory security we spend money and time (the two are sometimes mixed up as well but this time by economists) on securing more money and time ‘just to be sure to be sure’.  We may confuse love with status, prestige and fame. What do we strictly ‘need’?  Peace, contentment and freedom to live a good life are treasures without compare. It is not suggested that we live in a state of economic backwardness. However, we need to seek, work for and strive after those things that make for peace, contentment, sustainability and freedom in our world today.  Greed is not good, contrary to what some say or assume about society and economies. Neither is dependence where we expect others to work for us and provide us with our needs and wants without making our own contribution.

In a world of growing inequality

In the course of recent decades there is compelling evidence of increased inequality of income and wealth especially in countries such as the USA and the UK.  Many speak of the top ‘1%’ or even the top 0.1%. However, the passion to accumulate more and more is not confined to the top 1% of even the top 10%. To some degree we are all prone to the temptation to want more ‘just in case’.  Paradoxically, the more we have the more we want. Just as levels of wealth and income are beginning to catch up with (if not exceed) pre-recession levels in those countries that underwent a severe recession in 2008-2010 (Ireland and the UK being among them) many people are anxious to leap forward in terms of wealth and income. If every time the word ‘growth’ is used by economists attracted a bonus the world would be full of millionaire economists!. Rarely, do we ask growth of what, for whom, and why.

There are pressures to lower taxes, have more cash in the pocket and, in some quarters, expressions of fear about the impact of immigration. How ironic that we neglect the fact that the islands of Ireland and Britain have, over centuries, continued to send huge numbers of emigrants to other parts of the world (as well to each other) in less than praiseworthy circumstances.

However, what is key to a flourishing life for individuals as well as communities and families is those values that unite people in mutual care. No one can deny that a combination of luck, where you are born and who you are born to as well as random distributions of ability and disposition shape economic outcomes.  However, social inequality is powerfully reinforced from generation to generation by means of upbringing, the kinds of schools young people go to and the kind of social networks they are involved in as well as the inherited and acquired stocks of ‘financial capital’, ‘cultural capital’ and ‘social capital’ as some social theorists say. The same process works in relation to that other public good ‘health’ which is being incrementally privitised in these parts of the world.

Inheritance – the opening theme for this Sunday’s passage –  is surely highly significant as well to social outcomes across the generations which may explain why some families quarrel over this matter much to the delight of the law profession and, also, why there is resistance to inheritance taxes as alleged infringements of the rights of offspring to their parents’ estate or home. After marital breakdown, legal battles over inheritance probably constitute the second most lucrative source of income for family law professionals.

Skills, technology and institutions are vital to ensuring economic and social development in the widest sense but are no substitutes for the clarification and practice of compassion, justice and equality of respect and opportunity.

There is no detailed blueprint for social transformation

The gospels, including that of Luke, do not provide a detailed blueprint for how we should organise society. Rather, the good news provides sign posts to how we can reset our priorities and put human dignity first before any institution, ideology or interest.  Trusting in a higher love that guides our lives as well as in a code of behaviour that de-thrones the gods of money and social status remains a challenge for Christians today as it did in Jesus’ time. The person in the crowd who sought free legal aid and intervention by Jesus in the case of a family quarrel over inheritance is a proto-type for us today as we confuse ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ and end up never being satisfied because we want what we do not need and we need the very things we do not want to face up to.  As always, Luke turns everything upside down in this crazy upside down world.

For the Christ came not to enchain but to set free. He came not to condemn but to save. And He came not to impoverish but to enrich. We, too, can be rich in relationship, hope and care. This is what we bring with us at the end and this is what we leave behind for others to treasure. And this is what matters.