Spiritual Malaise

 

 I notice spiritual malaise in this very materialistic, godless society of our developed world. My students seem to be blase' about romance, marriage, about family or about having children, especially women. Young people, in particular, seem to have so much more materialism than in the past and yet, they lack more and more animation in living life. They often express the phrase, " I'm bored!" after immediately receiving a  toy novelty of some kind after which I say, "Use your imagination and make it exciting."  I tell my grandchildren that with only a handful of toys, I was able to fully enjoy my childhood. I fondly recall playing "store" as I called it, using my creativity and imagination in reconstructing a little cubicle area in the basement as a store. I used real objects such and food and shopping bags which made my imaginative play come to life. I was hardly ever bored. Today, parents seem to have to keep their children always distracted with sports, screens or other pastimes. Toys or video games need to be more and more complex or glitzy for children as they inevitably become yet, more bored and more unanimated. Families that just have one child, plan "play dates" for their children with children from bigger families to assist in removing "boredom" from setting into the humdrum day to day living of their "only child". What I experience now with my students in the U.S (after 54 years of teaching them) or when I travel to Europe as well, in countries like France or Italy, is that adults take the place of  siblings for their single child which in the end, makes the child even more pampered and coddled. My observation of large families like the one I grew up in, is that we were happy overall, with very little in the sense of material things. We smiled a lot and we enjoyed family life. I also notice from my personal experiences with humanity in all walks of life and from diverse socioeconomic status in the world, that the happiest people seem to be poor people. If you look at children who smile the most, it is always the impoverished ones that do. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,"  It means that spiritual humility, a recognition of one's spiritual need and dependence on God, is what truly matters, not material wealth. To be happy does not require great wealth and materialism, it just requires us to live a simple life that has meaning and purpose with faith, hope and love in our hearts, mind and soul. 

In Deuteronomy, 30:19 Moses states, "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, that you and your children might live."  "Life" is not just biological existence but a spiritual life of relationship with God, achieved by loving, obeying, and holding fast to Him. The call to choose life and not be distracted by worldly things.  The Catholic Church views this passage as a call to live a life of obedience to Christ, which is the path to true and abundant spiritual life. We need hope in Christ to live life both physically and spiritually when life is dark and difficult. The body dies but so does the soul without it. Without a spiritual life of relationship with God, as with many people, especially young people today in modern society, their emptiness and depression is covered over with distractions, materialism and toys. What we need is relationship with God, with our families and with our fellowman in order to heal our spiritual malaise. The glitz, noise, busyness, sports, distractions, toys, hi-tech gadgets, etc all need to be tempered! I think I would want the word, "Moderation" on my tombstone as my message to humanity! No, all kidding aside, my message to humanity is that we need hope, hope in Christ to hold onto for all the spiritual malaise that exists in the world today.