WHILE in some reunion recently with
former college
classmates and colleagues at work during my pre-priesthood years when
I myself was active in the professional field, I was struck by one of
the comments I heard in our conversations.
A friend who is also an economist mentioned that the
different ways many Western governments took to tackle the global
economic crisis that started sometime in 2008, taken from both the
capitalistic and socialist models, could not adequately resolve the
problem because they just relied on certain laws and policies
prevailing in their respective countries at that time.
Many of these political and economic leaders are
discovering that it takes more than just following purely economic and
civil laws to resolve the problem in a way that could be considered
most fair.
I have always believed that merely following articulated
laws or man-made laws, whether in business or in our life in society
in general, would not be enough, since these laws would always be in
need with the proper spirit for them to be as they should be.
These laws, at best, can only give some kind of guideline.
They dispose us to the ways of truth, charity, justice. But they
cannot by themselves achieve those goals unless they are animated by
the real source of truth, charity and justice which can only be God,
our creator and Father.
At best, they can somehow regulate the external aspects of
a given problem or situation but are quite silent on the internal
aspects. They can be good in sanctioning the macro dimensions of our
economy or political life, but are again very tentative in the micro
level.
These laws and policies cannot function on their own. They
need a deeper foundation, a terra firma that in the end could only be
God and his laws and standards. It’s the hesitation or even aversion
to put God in the core of our legal systems that would somehow pervert
our laws and policies even if they are formulated with the best of
intentions.
When crafted, developed and lived independently of God or
when pursued outside a loving and faithful relationship with God,
these laws can easily be manipulated to suit one’s self-interest at
the expense of the common good. They would miss the finer points of
ethics and morals so crucial in our life, personal and social, here on
earth.
And in that set-up, it would always be the more powerful,
in terms of wealth, fame, talents, etc., who would dominate and tend
to exploit the others. Their authority, which is supposed to be a
sharing of the authority of God, would be used not to give glory to
God and to serve others, but more to give glory to themselves and to
be served by others. In short, there is always the tendency for people
to abuse their authority.
In that set-up, what are often excluded, deliberately or
unintentionally, would be the elements of mercy and compassion, the
need for sacrifice, detachments from things and others that are
necessary and at the same time unavoidable in our life here on earth.
It is a set-up that is blind to these things and is prone
to follow the law of the jungle or the law of Talion that usually
caters to the baser instincts of men and hardly goes beyond them. The
higher values of faith and morals are disregarded, if not frowned
upon.
The requirements of our moral and spiritual life, so
inalienable in us that even in our mundane activities like business
and politics they are always relevant, are often unmet if not totally
ignored.
It is a set-up that tends to give a knee-jerk reaction to
things at the expense of a more comprehensive attitude. It is often
taken up by the passion and the excitement of the here-and-now and is
quite subjective at the expense of a longer and more objective view of
things.
We need to overcome the fear or whatever bias we have
regarding the need to involve God in our human affairs. We cannot say
that just because what we are doing are purely business or politics,
God should not be involved.
While it’s true that there is a certain legitimate
autonomy in our temporal affairs, it does not mean that God has
nothing to do with them. Yes, we need to uphold that autonomy and
should not unduly mix God and religion in living out those affairs,
but it does not mean that God is not the beginning and end of these
affairs.
classmates and colleagues at work during my pre-priesthood years when
I myself was active in the professional field, I was struck by one of
the comments I heard in our conversations.
A friend who is also an economist mentioned that the
different ways many Western governments took to tackle the global
economic crisis that started sometime in 2008, taken from both the
capitalistic and socialist models, could not adequately resolve the
problem because they just relied on certain laws and policies
prevailing in their respective countries at that time.
Many of these political and economic leaders are
discovering that it takes more than just following purely economic and
civil laws to resolve the problem in a way that could be considered
most fair.
I have always believed that merely following articulated
laws or man-made laws, whether in business or in our life in society
in general, would not be enough, since these laws would always be in
need with the proper spirit for them to be as they should be.
These laws, at best, can only give some kind of guideline.
They dispose us to the ways of truth, charity, justice. But they
cannot by themselves achieve those goals unless they are animated by
the real source of truth, charity and justice which can only be God,
our creator and Father.
At best, they can somehow regulate the external aspects of
a given problem or situation but are quite silent on the internal
aspects. They can be good in sanctioning the macro dimensions of our
economy or political life, but are again very tentative in the micro
level.
These laws and policies cannot function on their own. They
need a deeper foundation, a terra firma that in the end could only be
God and his laws and standards. It’s the hesitation or even aversion
to put God in the core of our legal systems that would somehow pervert
our laws and policies even if they are formulated with the best of
intentions.
When crafted, developed and lived independently of God or
when pursued outside a loving and faithful relationship with God,
these laws can easily be manipulated to suit one’s self-interest at
the expense of the common good. They would miss the finer points of
ethics and morals so crucial in our life, personal and social, here on
earth.
And in that set-up, it would always be the more powerful,
in terms of wealth, fame, talents, etc., who would dominate and tend
to exploit the others. Their authority, which is supposed to be a
sharing of the authority of God, would be used not to give glory to
God and to serve others, but more to give glory to themselves and to
be served by others. In short, there is always the tendency for people
to abuse their authority.
In that set-up, what are often excluded, deliberately or
unintentionally, would be the elements of mercy and compassion, the
need for sacrifice, detachments from things and others that are
necessary and at the same time unavoidable in our life here on earth.
It is a set-up that is blind to these things and is prone
to follow the law of the jungle or the law of Talion that usually
caters to the baser instincts of men and hardly goes beyond them. The
higher values of faith and morals are disregarded, if not frowned
upon.
The requirements of our moral and spiritual life, so
inalienable in us that even in our mundane activities like business
and politics they are always relevant, are often unmet if not totally
ignored.
It is a set-up that tends to give a knee-jerk reaction to
things at the expense of a more comprehensive attitude. It is often
taken up by the passion and the excitement of the here-and-now and is
quite subjective at the expense of a longer and more objective view of
things.
We need to overcome the fear or whatever bias we have
regarding the need to involve God in our human affairs. We cannot say
that just because what we are doing are purely business or politics,
God should not be involved.
While it’s true that there is a certain legitimate
autonomy in our temporal affairs, it does not mean that God has
nothing to do with them. Yes, we need to uphold that autonomy and
should not unduly mix God and religion in living out those affairs,
but it does not mean that God is not the beginning and end of these
affairs.
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