“The
man who would true power gain,
must
subdue his own wild thoughts;
never
must he let his passions triumph
and
yoke his neck by their foul bonds.
For
though the earth, as far as India's shore,
tremble
before the laws you give,
though
Thule bow to your service on earth's farthest bounds,
yet
if you cannot drive away black cares,
if
you cannot put to flight complaints,
then
is no true power yours.
—from
Book 3, Poem 5
If
something is good in and of itself, pursue it without hesitation. But if
something is only good by and through another thing, how is it worthy of
pursuit for its own sake? Let what is inferior be subject to what is superior.
“But I
wish to be rich and powerful!”
Certainly,
you may prefer that way of life, but is being rich and powerful always good?
“Well
no, but I’d like to be rich and powerful in the right way.”
Then be
right first, and only then think about being rich and powerful. Attend to the
absolute, and then consider the relative.
Being
rich and powerful in the right way? Will that make you happy?
“Yes,
that’s exactly what I want.”
But
riches can harm you as quickly as they can help you, and worldly power over
others can harm you as quickly as it can help you. Can living rightly ever harm
you?
I see
how many people have sought possessions above all else, and I see how many
people have sought influence above all else. I have also seen how miserable it
can make them, not because of the wealth and status itself, but because of the
love of the wealth and status for itself.
Owning
something or ruling something beyond ourselves seems so tempting, perhaps
because we see it as a means to an end. But owning nothing or ruling nothing
beyond ourselves can just as easily help us to live well.
The
means should not be confused with the ends. Everything gives me a chance to do
right, and having more out there does
not necessarily make me better in here.
An
insightful student of mine once pointed out that if we look at photographs of
different Presidents of the United States, from the beginning of their terms to
the end, we often see men who aged far too quickly, who seemed burdened with more
and more, who were overcome with worry. He added that if we look at their
writings and speeches, we see men who often began to recognize the inadequacy of their
position as their years in power passed.
Compare
Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address to his second. You will see a very different
man.
Being in
charge of a powerful nation and ruling over the greatest wealth makes many
folks quite miserable. Living well, however, informed by a sense of right and
wrong that measures all things, has never made folks miserable. It gives them
meaning and purpose, and so it reveals happiness.
Has
worldly power driven away your cares and complaints? I didn’t think so. Keep looking
further, keep going deeper. True power will be found elsewhere.
Written in 9/2015
No comments:
Post a Comment