(A theological reflection in 5 parts)
The strange distortions of secular ideology: My best possible life!
Part 1: Our best possible life
Many people today, especially in the younger generation, seem to have little hope or optimism. It seems to be part of a general malaise in a significant part of Western society at the moment. However, one thing that I notice in particular is that for many people, however they happen to be, down to the smallest detail, must be regarded as though it was ordained by a higher authority from all eternity. This is most peculiar for a secular ideology to adopt such an attitude.
I think the motive for this is that, for such people, it is unbearable for them to think that they are not living their best possible life. So, every detail, no matter how contingent, in that things did turn out that way, but they could easily have worked out differently, must be regarded as absolutely necessary – it could not possibly have been otherwise. This attitude, though bizarre, and clearly false, is, nevertheless, completely understandable in a secular age.
Those without God have no-one to forgive them if any failure to live “their best possible life” is down to themselves. They have no-one to give hope of ultimate justice if lives are negatively affected by the injustice of others. They have no hope of ultimate fulfilment and ongoing life if they have written off the possibility of the life of heaven. They have no means of things that have gone wrong ever being put right, let alone any hope of perfect fulfilment, if they deny the existence of the one in whose presence we find such life in all its fullness.
Secular peoples’ anxiety, anger, fear and resentment make perfect sense. If you are clear in your own mind that this mortal life is all we have and then we’re finished; if you come to awareness that, despite the wonderful possibility that we in the UK will have a long, healthy, prosperous life in which we will have many opportunities to pursue our goals, our life could be blighted, or suddenly cut short, through illness, sudden disaster, or the stupid selfish violence and greed of others; if you realise that, no matter how many years you assume you have ahead of you, you are on a countdown to certain death, then this can easily cast a shadow over even the sunniest prospects for life. Taking refuge in a hedonistic consumerist ideology of life is a distraction rather than a solution. If we are subconsciously fearfully simply trying to maximise our collection of good experiences before we turn up our toes, then I suggest that we have missed the whole point of living, even while we appear to be engaging with relish in life.
Spiritual Devotion 