As a former Religious Education teacher, a way of highlighting a culture of individualism was to describe the fictitious barbecue from hell.
A family was about to cook the steaks. The next-door neighbour chose that moment to set fire to a pile of weeds when the wind was blowing in the direction of the partygoers. When confronted, the neighbour replied: “This garden is mine, and I can do what I like”.
It used to give rise to a lively debate among the students. Some would argue in favour of the person burning the weeds.
“She was entitled to do whatever she felt like.”
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Others argued against her. It took time for feelings to cool down as the argument continued elsewhere. This vignette captures the conflict between the individual and society. It also highlights the reality of our world where some think they can allow their toxicity to blow into another’s garden.
Biblical wisdom affirms that to be human is to be in a relationship with the transcendent, ourselves, others, and the planet. No person is an island, disconnected from interdependence. The next-door neighbour didn’t quite get that.
When we no longer know who we are, we lose our way. Loss of identity leads to loss of meaning. When we lose direction, things unravel. The history of the world highlights what happens when ‘I’ and my self-interest supersede the common good, the ‘we’.
What is happening in our world is a terminal spiritual crisis which is an urgent call to challenge the unexamined, repetitious, conventional wisdom and the tired script of our cultural and political leaders where charity is the solution to injustice rather than alleviating the cause of injustice in the first place.
The mantra “it’s mine” does not serve the local or global community because responsibilities come with privilege in a world where we share the same planet and the same flesh and blood.
For many years I led a 6th Year ‘Quo Vadis’ pilgrimage retreat, a reflective hike through the Glen of Aherlow and over the Knockmealdown Mountains to Mount Melleray Abbey. The demanding hike was a microcosm of life. It was a community of young people who were not in competition with one another but in solidarity. The core principle was when “we” arrive, only then do “I” arrive.
This was sometimes frustrating for the fitter and faster. This principle goes against individualism.
“We’re all in this together” was the Covid slogan where people went out of their way, even risking their lives, to support others. Both the strong and those who fall behind are entitled to support.
How can we address individualism with its sense of entitlement and exclusion? The four Jesuit apostolic preferences shed some light. The first stresses the value of reflective living following the guidelines of Ignatius of Loyola and the value of adult spirituality and religion. Spiritual openness facilitates the capacity to hear and respond to the heartbeat of God in the cry of the vulnerable.
Two of the four preferences address social and climate justice making the point that there is nothing like a first-hand experience of injustice to facilitate a personal change of attitude which in turn is the first step to social transformation. When a person is encountered as an individual and not as a statistic or a stereotype, change happens. When a person is Michael and not a homeless person, perception changes.
As long as the world is perceived in a simplistic “winners-losers” perspective, where the so-called “losers” get what they ‘deserve’ from the winners’ point of view, justice is delayed.
Sadly, vulnerable people are still looked down upon in our towns and cities and hurtful judgments and comments made about them. Many judge the book by the cover, ignoring the painful, tragic story of the person and what circumstances in life brought them to this point. Some die on the streets because no one calls an ambulance.
Thankfully there are many whose self-identity, strengthened by a sense of social responsibility, inspires them to reach out to those who have fallen behind, embracing them as fellow travellers on the road of life and who remember that it’s only when “we arrive, “I” arrive.
The fourth Jesuit apostolic preference is to accompany young people in the creation of a hoped-filled future. One of the key challenges for educators and parents is to model what biblical self-identity looks like, a difficult task due to opposing voices competing for our loyalty. Young people are imitators.
Schools and homes need to be vigilant about the values, attitudes and beliefs they are communicating if we want a hope-filled world where we can hopefully minimise the effects of the smoke from our weeds.
Fr Jim Maher has spent most of his Jesuit ministry teaching English and Religious Education at Crescent College Comprehensive SJ in Limerick. He continues to provide pastoral support there.