Here is my second post in a series of brief personal philosophical statements stemming from my graduate course final. Like the first, it deals with axiology (study of values and morality, right and wrong, etc.).
Philosophy Position #2: The root of all evil and unhappiness comes as a result of attempting to make a god of oneself.
One of my favorite quotes to put on the board in my classroom and have students respond to in writing is from Thomas Merton: “To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect on myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.” There’s no question that this is the great challenge of my life. I battle against this every day. When the alarm clock goes off, instead of being grateful for breath, the day’s possibilities, and my family, I curse about being tired and having to go to work. Instead of looking first to serve my wife and kids, I get frustrated about the lack of hot water, or being out of my favorite cereal, or the mess of toys I see everywhere. I seek to enter conversations in which I can offer my own complaints, and I see people as obstacles to productivity. This is a miserable way to live. Luckily, I don’t approach the world like this all day or every day. But that desire is in me - the desire to believe I deserve comfort, the desire to believe I deserve the world to revolve around me, the desire to be worshipped by others.
I see evidence of this in much of the literature that I teach, written both by Christians and non-Christians. The happiest characters are those who have discovered that joy is found in valuing others over the self and who see themselves as small in comparison to the rest of the world. Obviously I bring God into this and maintain that full happiness is arrived while focusing on Him. To be disconnected from God is to invite dissatisfaction with life, and that disconnection occurs most easily when my focus is on the self.
Philosophy Position #2: The root of all evil and unhappiness comes as a result of attempting to make a god of oneself.
One of my favorite quotes to put on the board in my classroom and have students respond to in writing is from Thomas Merton: “To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect on myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.” There’s no question that this is the great challenge of my life. I battle against this every day. When the alarm clock goes off, instead of being grateful for breath, the day’s possibilities, and my family, I curse about being tired and having to go to work. Instead of looking first to serve my wife and kids, I get frustrated about the lack of hot water, or being out of my favorite cereal, or the mess of toys I see everywhere. I seek to enter conversations in which I can offer my own complaints, and I see people as obstacles to productivity. This is a miserable way to live. Luckily, I don’t approach the world like this all day or every day. But that desire is in me - the desire to believe I deserve comfort, the desire to believe I deserve the world to revolve around me, the desire to be worshipped by others.
I see evidence of this in much of the literature that I teach, written both by Christians and non-Christians. The happiest characters are those who have discovered that joy is found in valuing others over the self and who see themselves as small in comparison to the rest of the world. Obviously I bring God into this and maintain that full happiness is arrived while focusing on Him. To be disconnected from God is to invite dissatisfaction with life, and that disconnection occurs most easily when my focus is on the self.
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