By Ricardo Márquez
We all have a power, a force, an impulse that inhabits us. Our challenge: How will we use it? That power can serve to build or to destroy, to unify or to divide, to liberate or to oppress.
The values we have learned at home, at school and at church guide our actions. If what we have learned in our family is to treat people with respect and understanding, it’s expected that the use of our power will be guided by these values. If what we have seen and learned is control, humiliation and violence, that is likely what we will manifest when we exercise our power.
Time and again, we repeat and affirm that the family is the nucleus of society; that what is planted and sowed in that nucleus will yield fruits for cities, countries and the world; that the changes we want to see have to begin in that nucleus; and that mothers and fathers are the builders of future human beings.
And what do we see?
The reality is not very encouraging. Because of that, we have an opportunity to wake up, although it will require time, resilience and work. What we have not learned through our conscience, we will learn through our experience, some of it very painful.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that we live in a toxic culture. The word “culture” has Latin roots related to agriculture; it means “to cultivate” and “what is cultivated.” And what is being primarily cultivated, nourished and promoted these days? Isolation, separation, distraction, consumerism, appearance, utilitarian relationships and money are being presented as the keys to success.
What do we feel in this context? Uncertainty, confusion, loss of purpose and meaning in life, an empty interior … all generated by work dynamics, economic and environmental crises, wars.
But, as real as these feelings are, so is our profound desire for respect, love, peace and justice that we carry within us, like subterranean rivers that remind us that we’re invited to a plentiful and harmonious life.
It takes time to wake up from our confusion and wishful thinking, to push against the current, to look within and recognize the murmurings of that subterranean river that we can only hear in the silence of our conscience until we can hear and feel what St. Augustine expressed with these beautiful words from his autographical work, “Confessions”:
“Late have I loved You. Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved You! Lo, You were within, but I outside, seeking there for You, and upon the shapely things You have made I rushed headlong. I, misshapen. You were with me, but I was not with You. They held me back far from You. You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; You flared, blazed, banished my blindness; You lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for You; I tasted You, and now I hunger and thirst; You touched me, and I burned for your peace.”
Today, I feel invited to give life to what Jesus reminded us about the use of power: “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matt 20:25-27).
Whoever wants to be great should use his or her gifts, his power and force to serve, promoting justice, peace and fraternity among brothers.
Ricardo Márquez may be reached at marquez_muskus@yahoo.com.
