Golden Yellow

 At a time when we are all oppressed by the appalling wars and threats of greater wars that dominate the world's attention, we are confronted with a choice between trying to reconcile such realities with our own peace and sanity, or simply attempting to block them out. After all, who are we to imagine that we can get any kind of sound understanding of all the terrible things that are happening, let alone do anything about them?

I write in the conviction that they cannot be blocked out, otherwise they are likely to break into our lives with all the brutality of the letter I came across the other day, informing my mother's uncle of the death of his son, Paul Smith, in WWII. For all our inadequacies, even for our own sanity, the horrors have to be addressed. Here, there is no exceptional  knowledge or expertise which can possibly provide the answers. 

After all, experts are people who specialise, and there clearly is no speciality that can cover the issues raised. Furthermore, experts of any kind necessarily have their own hobby-horses, vested interests, and the first necessity here is to free our minds of such interests. How come, we may well ask, do ordinary people frequently have better insights and instincts than the experts?

Such are my excuses for writing about matters about which I merely have the benefit of what might be called a lifetime of intellectual browsing, in the context of a good deal of salt water and some prayer. I am far from claiming to be always right, but I can at least claim to be detached and as honest as possible. My being virtually without power or influence I take to be an advantage, which enables me to offer my thoughts merely as a challenge to my readers to figure out what they think. If we all did this, we might find that 'we the people' all have a lot more common ground, and hence perhaps more power to turn things round, than we realise. We  may also realise that for all the complexity, the basic issues are actually quite simple, while the human race has not been wrestling with them for thousands of years to no effect. Of course, there will also be those who will do their very best to prevent any such realisations occuring!

Three apparently separate matters have devilishly preoccupied me lately, and I suppose many other people too,-  covid, Israel/Palestine and Ukraine. The 'pandemic' aptly set the stage for the other two, in being an extreme case of governmental and corporate overreach, which finally convinced me that the world, democratic or not, was in the grip of powers which do not have ordinary people, their welfare and their rights at heart. This reality is also playing out of course in the above mentioned wars.

So what is wrong? For a start, governments on all sides are in a very bad place, with in most cases national debt completely out of control and chronically escalating, and with a frequently sick, declining and discontented population. What better way to get the people to fall in behind them, to knuckle down and forget about all those impossible problems like balancing budgets and addressing climate change, so we can carry on with old faithfuls like printing money and polluting the planet regardless? We 'the people'  have to insist on addressing the basic problems rather than allowing ourselves to be distracted from them. Giving Varadkar and his mates an emphatic thumbs down in the recent Irish referenda was a good start!

However, there is the very ideology of the nation state to be addressed, which is so  widely taken for granted that most people do not even realise that it is an ideology. Some people claim that the concept is as old as the will of communities to survive, but I think not, at least, not in the sense of these modern states that envelop the individual from the cradle to the grave and determine what he or she can and cannot do and even say, in a mode quite beyond inter-personal mediation. The Judeo-Christian tradition, on the other hand, places our destiny, on the personal as well as the communal level, within the transcendent revelation of the one and only ground of Being. 'My country, right or wrong' erects the state into a false god. Collapsing the tension introduced by an independent and universal church facilitated this. 

It was indeed unfortunate that this process managed to identify itself with a necessary process of emancipation, both for individuals and so that 'the scientific world-view' could develop. It was appropriated by the Protestant Reformation and subsequent Enlightenment thinkers. Then people started asking foolish questions like 'Does God exist?' Faith was reduced to theism, with the French philosopher Pascal proposing his famous wager (that we may as well bet on God's existence for obvious reasons) and Voltaire declaiming 'Si Dieu n’éxistait pas, il faudrait l’inventer'.

Even in France (fille ainée de l'Eglise) the remnant of the Church was largely subsumed into the state. English nationalism took a giant step down this road from 'Good King Harry' onwards, and much the same impulse seems to have driven on into Amerca, even as they all considered themselves 'chosen races'. The Catholic Church, on the surface of things, languished in the fight between these assertive nation states, each considering itself a kind of church. European civilization fractured as faith was separated from reason, spirit from matter. But nationalism and indeed science fed on war. Now that same science has rendered war impossibly destructive, with our societies disintegrating for all kinds of reasons but fundamentally because they thought that they could do without God, so we simply have to put our civilisation and culture together again by rediscovering Him!

A good place to start is to recognise that there is no sense to asking 'Does God exist?' One necessarily finds oneself discussing someone else's idea of God, and they are all very inadequate. But somehow we have to get our feet on the ground of existence. Some philosophers went on to question whether life itself exists. A slap of salt water should be enough to settle that. Then one can go on to discover that good and evil, true and false etc really do exist; they are not mere social constructs. On the other hand, nothing ever gets created unless someone starts with some kind of an idea,- I am scratching my head even in order to construct a bit of a greenhouse! 

What does it take to construct the Universe? But we do have a bit of a problem in acknowledging an intelligence so far beyond our own. It is tempting to avoid doing so, confining  our attention to the more manageable 'power fields', such as a rugby field or a company or even the family or the nation state. Forget God and the Church, let's just concentrate on our parts on whatever little stages we can act, where we have some hope of exercising our will to power! 

The problem is that life becomes so fragmented that it no longer works when the ineffable is shut out; each little part becomes absurd if it has no basis in the whole, and people keep trying to force it into little boxes which they think they can manage. Nationalism is the ultimate embodiment of this will to power, and genuine community is something else, which crushes noone. Perhaps the best we can do is to think in terms of direction of travel, but we must start on the road. This is part of the reason why I opted for Irish rather than British nationality. 

Nowadays however Ireland is facing a choice between following Sweden and Finland into Nato, or holding out for an alternative. Supposing a Russian fleet sailed up the Shannon to seize County Clare with Shannon airport? Unlikely, maybe, but we would look a trifle silly trying to dig out some of the old cannons for the 18th century batteries! But how about a massive cyber attack? So what might Israel's alternative be, to attempting to root out and destroy Hammas in Gaza, not to mention chasing Arabs from the land? And what is Ukraine's alternative, to fighting on against Russia?

One thing is certain, warring nation states are going nowhere but towards mutual destruction. 'Victory' is not possible any longer, in the sense that nation states understand it. So I think in the case of where I live in Ireland, we must hang tough outside NATO, indeed be more assertive about this and advocate its dissolution, on the grounds that it is rooted in the Anglo-American will to power. Maybe we will actually get a new American President who concentrates on getting his own house in order, which I would count a good thing, while hoping it will be Kennedy rather than Trump,- it is too questionable whether the latter is capable of concentrating on anything except himself. I'm hoping the American electorate will spring a surprise on us, just as the Irish just did,- noone foresaw that referendum result coming! 

As for Israel and Ukraine, in both cases, they could start by imagining a future state of affairs where the different ethnicities have their own cantons, free of outside interference,  albeit with appropriate cooperation,- just as indeed the whole world needs to, especially Europe, while throwing off its dependence on the USA.. It is difficult, there will be plenty of set-backs, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility, and the alternatives are truly dreadful. Considering the technologies of control that are being developed, modern nation states of all hues are threatening to become hideous tyrannies, as they try to hold atomised, fragmented populations together. 

We all need to rebuild community from the bottom up, while developing 'energy fields' that do not depend on national governments in both directions, big and small. I am working at it particularly on the level of our mini community here in Rahona, and on the level of the Gannetsway,- and I am after giving the 'Anna M' a new colour scheme, replacing blue with golden yellow. I would like it to reflect a change in my state of mind, from despondency at the way the world is going, to hope in a new beginning! There's a big effort coming up to get her back in the water.

                                           

Fishing for Meaning.

It's now over 50 years since myself and Fiona came to live in Ireland. I had  despaired of my life in England. It had already become clear that stormy weather was ahead,- that the relatively cosy and complacent post-war period that I was born into was coming to an end - but this was not in itself a cause for despondency. Anyway things went on shambling along better than I expected. No, what caused me to despair of the set-up was an  endemic, institutionalised refusal to even ask the important questions, let alone to find answers.

    The 'Enlightenment' notion that first principles, religious quarrels and questions of principle and meaning could simply be set aside, while the adults in the room got down to addressing the 'real problems' of economics and power, albeit ideally in an atmosphere of tolerance even if this was not extended to those many people 'beyond the Pale',- this notion was already buckling under the strain. After all, that society did depend on many principles about what was right and wrong, true and false that had been forged in a sharper age, but had largely degenerated into unexamined assumptions.

    I was a confused young man who was presented with such insights mainly by a small group of Benedictine monks, and in particular by one who, himself buckling under the strain, took his own life. Graduating at Cambridge University, teaching in a lousy school in the Liverpool dockland, working on Fleet St, continually being told you can't say that, participating in the revolution that those monks attempted but failed with at Downside, - all pointed to a big sign saying NO EXIT, to quote the title of one of Dom Sebastian Moore's books. What was a bloke to do?

    Maybe I, as an English Catholic, looked to that Ireland 'beyond the Pale' through somewhat rose-tinted glasses, and also through the eyes of my special friend at school, an Irish lad who was exiled to that English boarding school. Unlike so many who were actually living in Ireland at the time, we saw it as a place that was free of at least some of the brain-fog that beset the antiquated structures of the British Empire,- a place of possibilities and a certain freedom of spirit. We were not however entirely naive. One helluva confrontation was obviously going to happen there!

    How would Ireland fare in the storm of modernity? How is one to reconcile the many and varied claims of the past with the advent of an ever more interconnected but troubled world? Having grappled so painfully with such problems, was it even possible that Irish people would once again ride to the rescue of civilisation and religion, as they did in the aftermath of the collapse of the Roman version?

    Back to the cave! I went hunting while Fiona minded it and the children. Besides the facts that I had to earn a living somehow and at least knew a little about fishing and the sea, and that I fell in with the right people, especially one John Maguire whose funeral I attended just the other day in Glencolmcille,- besides all this was the thought that it provided the ideal platform to confront many of the existential problems that were plaguing me.    

    The sea reflects so many aspects of the mysterious reality of God. We may contend with it, we may even on occasion confront it, along with enjoying its many gifts; but God help us if we fail to respect it, merely trying to rearrange it to suit ourselves. Going to sea, fishing, rearing a family with Fiona of nine beautiful children, all this not alone kept me sane, but to my mind this archetypal existence was an ideal environment for sorting out and hardening up the fruits of my education and early experience. Such is the sea, 'the common sacrament of Man', the counterpoint to that other fundamental sacrament which, as many a sailor could testify, has a difficult relationship with sea-faring,- marriage and family. 

    As I was coming to the end of my fishing career, the crisis of modernism seemed to be coming to a head. The referendum on divorce was hardly a promising basis to take up the challenge, but there it was and I felt called to fight it. Since then three of our five daughters have suffered divorce. I know plenty about the difficulties of marriage and the fact that it does sometimes fail. The big question is how to find our way to reconcile this fact with the imperative to assert marriage as the lifelong union of a man and a woman, which is at the basis of genuine family life and much else? I gradually came to understand marriage as the paramount icon of the Covenant between God and Humanity, wherein faithfulness and love embrace, and life itself should be transmitted. 

    The more that icon is obscured, the more society and the state become dysfunctional, unhealthy and unhappy. One only has to look around to see the results, as the proponents of no-fault divorce and as the current constitutional attempt to redefine the family as any 'durable relationship' refuse to acknowledge. Just imagine how much less expense the state would incur if families everywhere were functioning well! Instead we have atomisation and creeping authoritarianism, while the disintegration of families continues apace.

    Much else besides marriage and the family is on the line, many crises are apparently coming to head, yet I still find it difficult to raise such issues even in the circle of those whom I know and love. Is there a discernible relationship between the destruction of the family and the proposed WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty? In an astonishing line-up, national sovereingty, meaningful democracy, personal autonomy, freedom of speech and our very health and even survival are on the line along with the family as we know it. All too often, those of us who raise such issues find ourselves up against the whole gamut of methods used to shut us up. Well, we are told, 'stop ranting, if people are not listening you won't get through, there's nothing we can do about it, so why distress ourselves?' 

    Meanwhile the World Economic Forum, which somehow seems to have a whole new global generation of political leaders in its clutches, touts this historical moment as 'The Great Reset'. Their machinations are often referred to as 'the globalist agenda'. Among other things they openly propose that the world's population should be radically reduced. Indeed, how many nice, decent people have we heard say 'there are just too many people in the world'! Now of course they on no account wish to countenance the notion that the great and good could actually be doing something to rectify this little problem,- that they are all for bumping off a few billion people! A more drastic confrontation of pragmatism and principle can scarcely be imagined.

     One very understandable response is to withdraw, to pull up the drawbridge, let down the portcullis... or to sail off into the sunset! Would this be my escape route? I'm heading to Portugal again to get my old boat out  next week. But let me say, that just as I replied to those who accused me of escapism for going fishing in Donegal by saying 'I was dropping in rather than dropping out', I say it again now. I am not retreating, but going on the attack. I fancy myself demonstrating that we can actually have a Great Reset that is both fun and effective.

    Powerful ideas invariably take an aspect of truth and distort it, snedding it away from the universal body of truth that we Catholics identify with Christ and the Catholic Faith. It is nothing but the truth that the problems which confront us are both existential and global in scale, and they call for global responses. One way in which we part company with the 'globalists' is in thinking the rich and powerful are the right people to promote such responses. No, on the contrary, they constitute the problem, not that any of us with two pennies to rub together are entirely free of it. The exponentially growing chasm between the rich and the poor and the suffering of so many families are consequences of the love of money and pursuit of power; the antidote is very clearly promulgated in the Bible. What is special to this moment is the way in which the issues are lining up, the choices are clarifying, the stars are brightly shining and aligning!

    We have to rediscover that after all the Lord who created us and this whole amazing universe does actually know what He is doing. Our task is to liberate ourselves from our will to power, which we can only do by putting ourselves in His power, and let Him show us the way to go. This is far from doing nothing. There are whole libraries of books that purport to show us how to do it, and a multitude of differing approaches, but they generally involve closer relationships with our fellow travellers and with nature, and a willingness to live and to take responsibility. 

    This involves examining our lives, listening to the voice within, rejecting slogans, being ready to leave our comfort zones, seeking Wisdom and sound principles. One little technique that I have found helpful is voyaging up and down the Gannetsway on the Anna M - silly old me, but I stand by William Blake's dictum, 'He that would do good must do it in minute particulars'! At any rate, the experiences of family life, of community, of primary production and of nature are prime ingredients when it comes to appreciating first principles.

Back to Nazaré next week!

 

Some Place For Fun!

A Funny Place For Fun!

In such a stormy world, with so much suffering, I find myself sometimes asking whether one has any right to feel happy and fulfilled, to enjoy oneself, to make optimistic plans for the future? I suppose the inevitable answer is N0, we have no such right. Nonetheless, perhaps if we are capable of such feelings and plans, it is a noble and necessary thing to uphold them; but must we then close our minds and hearts in order to do so? Well, would it be better to leave the world to sink in a sea of misery? 

    'Something has gone wrong that absolutely requires us to fix it!'* But is there in fact a possibility of the radical alternative? If there is anything more depressing than the realisation that, for instance, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are insane, and possibly the precursors of a general conflagration fatal to the whole of civilisation; that the Governments and media which conspire in the inept, incompetent and dishonest response to Covid or climate change are dancing to tunes at odds with the welfare of their peoples, or that the financial set-up  operates on the basis of Ponzi schemes that will inevitably collapse; if there is anything more depressing than such thoughts, I say, it must be the conclusion that there is very little indeed which we can do about it all.

    That may be so, and yet, hope springs eternal, like the Spring! After all, on a cold and wet day in Ireland in early Spring, the hope of it is, to say the least, elusive. Personally, I fall back on that old tale of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus; in fact, I cannot imagine how any joy is possible without that saving grace; this it is which enables me to look at my grandchildren and affirm, yes, you can have a great future, and it is indeed  worth all the trouble of living! The problem remains that it can seem improbable and remote. The only answer to this is the experience of death and resurrection here and now, in our lives.

    This requires that we submit to all the deaths in our lives, loosing our very dreams of life and letting go of illusions.  I might mention the power of governments or 'science' or big corporations to solve our problems, with their stock-in-trade rockets and vaccines, or the massive heaps of debt that go with them. This is easier said than done, but if, for example, doctors had simply been left to get on with following their experience, consulting with their contacts, experimenting on their own account - if we trusted to their genuine authority, born of actually helping people, rather than the malign influence of those who were busy making fortunes at our expense - how different things could have been!

    It also requires that we do likewise in all the minute particulars of life. It is actually a great thing that life cannot go on on its present course, so that we may enjoy the fun of trying to live differently,- not in fear for a change, but in expectation of great things to come! It just happens that I am engaged in a little rehearsal with my old boat. Things couldn't go on the way they were, five years ago,- she was leaking too much for a start, and anyway, the way diesel has got so expensive, with boats having to pay the same tax as cars, along with everything else, I had to give her up or find a new way of going on.

    So now the crunch is getting very close, even in my own little way. Will we manage to get that electric drive together, and all the other jobs that need to be done to get the Anna M back to sea? Will we even manage to get that company off the ground, making marine electric drives? It has to be this Spring! I shall be heading back to Nazaré early next month. Will I ever get to sail along with the dophins on a calm and sparkling see again? Watch this space!

  

*  Bret Weinstein https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLp9YMM7CI4