How long shall we go on making demands upon the gods, as if we were still unable to support ourselves? How long shall we continue to fill with grain the marketplaces of our great cities? How long must the people gather it in for us? How long shall many ships convey the requisites for a single meal, bringing them from no single sea?
The bull is filled when he feeds over a few acres; and one forest is large enough for a herd of elephants. Man, however, draws sustenance both from the earth and from the sea.
What, then? Did Nature give us bellies so insatiable, when she gave us these puny bodies, that we should outdo the hugest and most voracious animals in greed? Not at all. How small is the amount which will satisfy nature? A very little will send her away contented. It is not the natural hunger of our bellies that costs us dear, but our solicitous cravings.
The bull is filled when he feeds over a few acres; and one forest is large enough for a herd of elephants. Man, however, draws sustenance both from the earth and from the sea.
What, then? Did Nature give us bellies so insatiable, when she gave us these puny bodies, that we should outdo the hugest and most voracious animals in greed? Not at all. How small is the amount which will satisfy nature? A very little will send her away contented. It is not the natural hunger of our bellies that costs us dear, but our solicitous cravings.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 60
G.K. Chesterton famously observed how quick we are to condemn what is wrong with the world before we have first bothered to understand what is right with the world. And so, for example, I am told every day how we are doing all these terrible things to destroy what is now called the “environment”, and yet I am rarely offered a positive account of how a man should actually live within the order of Nature.
Speaking for myself, as I don’t think it my place to boss others, I know that when I acquire and consume less, I thereby also show greater reverence for other creatures, and I can, in turn, only deny myself the luxuries of technology when I have fortified the virtues of my humanity. If I look within myself with brutal honesty, I recognize that the vast majority of things I call the bare necessities of life are no more than idle indulgences.
In other words, if I want to save a tree, let me begin by not building a bigger house. If I want to go places, let me start by using my own two feet. Those infernal pits of factories and warehouses, those sterile cityscapes smothered in concrete and asphalt, those shelves upon shelves of processed foods packaged in disposable plastic are little more than testaments to insatiable greed. Reforming the soul is the condition for any healing.
It would appear it was no different in Seneca’s time than it is in ours. Where character is lacking, fame and fortune come calling after me. When the mind is empty of meaning, I assume I can substitute with a gorged belly. If the heart grows cold, my attention turns to decadent diversions.
Once I learn more about who I am, I slowly but surely discern how little I need from the outside to nourish what is on the inside. Indeed, even the most trying conditions become opportunities to thrive, because I am now looking for my rewards elsewhere. I will respectfully protest the next time you define me by how much I buy and sell.
G.K. Chesterton famously observed how quick we are to condemn what is wrong with the world before we have first bothered to understand what is right with the world. And so, for example, I am told every day how we are doing all these terrible things to destroy what is now called the “environment”, and yet I am rarely offered a positive account of how a man should actually live within the order of Nature.
Speaking for myself, as I don’t think it my place to boss others, I know that when I acquire and consume less, I thereby also show greater reverence for other creatures, and I can, in turn, only deny myself the luxuries of technology when I have fortified the virtues of my humanity. If I look within myself with brutal honesty, I recognize that the vast majority of things I call the bare necessities of life are no more than idle indulgences.
In other words, if I want to save a tree, let me begin by not building a bigger house. If I want to go places, let me start by using my own two feet. Those infernal pits of factories and warehouses, those sterile cityscapes smothered in concrete and asphalt, those shelves upon shelves of processed foods packaged in disposable plastic are little more than testaments to insatiable greed. Reforming the soul is the condition for any healing.
It would appear it was no different in Seneca’s time than it is in ours. Where character is lacking, fame and fortune come calling after me. When the mind is empty of meaning, I assume I can substitute with a gorged belly. If the heart grows cold, my attention turns to decadent diversions.
Once I learn more about who I am, I slowly but surely discern how little I need from the outside to nourish what is on the inside. Indeed, even the most trying conditions become opportunities to thrive, because I am now looking for my rewards elsewhere. I will respectfully protest the next time you define me by how much I buy and sell.
—Reflection written in 6/2013
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