Foreword

“In spite of all that might be said against our age, what a moment it is to be alive in.” James McAuley

The Australian poet, James McAuley, wrote those words in 1954. They are a poignant summary of the mood of society during the 1950s.

Every age is perceived by its occupants with a mixture of pessimism and optimism. All of us have within us these twins: the forward pull of challenge and the backward drag of fear. As individuals, our capacity to achieve anything is largely governed by our ability to hang on to challenge and control our fears. The same applies to any collection of individuals – whether they be a family, a football team, a company, a local community, a state or the human race.

Each age is characterised by a different balance of optimism and pessimism. For example, in the Western world, the 1920s was characterised by optimism. But the 1930s and 1940s – with the Great Depression and World War II – were characterised by pessimism. The 1950s was quite possibly the decade this century in which the twins of optimism and pessimism were in closest balance. The 1960s and 70s certainly were characterised by a rising tide of optimism. This turned into a flood in the 1980s that nearly brought us as undone as the 1930s had done. We had lost all fear. We thought everything was possible. All that was required was just a bit more education and research. Businessmen and politicians started building enormous paper empires. Some of them didn’t even have the strength of paper. They were built on hot air. Scientists took us to the top of the mountain and we gazed at the Brave New World. Helen Reddy provided a theme song from women: “I am invincible”. And virtually all of us came to believe that we were infallible.

The bubble burst. The 1990s has turned out to be a decade where we have rediscovered fear. A blanket of pessimism and negativity, broken in places by some aberrant behaviour in the stock market, has descended to cloak our outlook.

Using the electronic eye of television as a window on the passing parade, it seems to me that society has lost direction. Talking amongst my friends, I pick up a general feeling that we all feel we are wandering around a little lost and dazed.

Until sometime in the 1980s our world was characterised by a growth in material living standards. From the end of the Second World War it had been possibly the longest period of sustained growth and relative peace that mankind has ever experienced. But, more importantly than growth in living standards, the period from the 1950s until the 1980s was characterised by a shrinking of the gulf between the haves and the have-nots.

This has now stopped. We are heading in the other direction again.

What’s the problem? What’s the answer?

Some people think it is a political problem. Others an economic problem. Still others see man himself as the problem. They look towards our relationship with our environment for causes and solutions. Another significant sector in our community is proselytizing that men are the problem. If women were running everything none of this would have occurred. Still others blame communism and socialism. Capitalism gets its share of the blame too. Others look to the present world trouble spots, such as Bosnia and the Middle East, and stick the blame on religion as the root of all our problems.

We are all correct. But, at the same time, we are all wrong.

Where we are wrong is when we seek to stick the blame, or seek the solution, in any one of these areas.

Where we are correct is when we see that our problems derive from all areas. And when we see that the solution will also come from adjustments in all the building blocks that make up our lives.

In one word: our problems, and the answers, are to be found in this word – culture.

Like many words, culture has a number of meanings. I principally use it in the OED* definition of “the intellectual side of civilisation”.

For a moment though I take you to another definition that is used in the sciences: culture is “the artificial development of microscopic organisms”.

That is a sense of the word like “look at the size of the tree that grows from an acorn or a tiny mustard seed”. Culture, in that sense, is the heart of the matter!

This small book is written about matters of the heart and about culture. But it is more than that…

Paul McCartney wrote a song called “Let it Be”. It was a big hit. These are the opening words:

“When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom. Let it Be.
And in my hour of darkness,
She is standing there right in front of me,
Speaking words of wisdom. Let it Be.”
Paul McCartney, “Let it Be”

Whatever our religious beliefs, all of us have to acknowledge this: that the notion of God, and a spiritual side to our being, has played a key role in not only our culture but all cultures since mankind emerged from the cave.

That is the starting point for this book of exploration of our culture. I started writing it on Christmas Eve 1993. I chose as my starting point The Magnificat – the prayer attributed to Mary when it was announced she was to be the Mother of God. The individual lines of of that prayer I have then used as the marker points, chapter headings if you insist, as my exploration unfolds.

Whoever and wherever you are when you read this book, I can only request that when you read it, you might do so with an open mind.

If you are a non-believer. I ask you only to suspend your unbelief for the time that it takes to read this book. Then ask yourself: have all these people down through time who have believed been wrong? Is it not possible that there could be a spiritual side to our being?

If you are a believer – whether one as insignificant as the widow in the Parable of the Widow’s Mite or one as powerful as a Pope. I also ask you to read what I have written with an open mind. Question your beliefs and presumptions. They will grow stronger. You will benefit. Through that we will all benefit.

To all of you: my objective is not to teach. It is to ask you to question. Even the least educated person who might read this book has a brain that stores more information and can process it in more creative ways than the most sophisticated personal computer. We all know a lot. Yet, at the same time, each of us only knows an infinitesimal amount of what there is to know. I do not know too many of the answers. Neither do you. Collectively though, with goodwill towards one another’s beliefs and an open mind, through our questioning we might discover a few more answers than the many we have now. Enjoy…

*The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, Vol I, 1973 Ed, p 471