September 14, 2012

Letters to the Editor

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Positive changes in society require ‘formation in the spirit,’ reader says

If we really want to make the world a better place to live in, we have to become better people. Regardless of who becomes our next president, neither man can do anything to build a better nation without the consent of the people.

But we the people need a new formation in the spirit. We need a radical simplification of life, a detachment from stuff, and things that stifle our life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control against which there is no law.

In order for us to change the world, we have to die to self and be born anew in the spirit of love and truth.

Our problem as a nation is our crisis as a people. We seek happiness in power, control and esteem. We base our self-worth on cultural or group identification. Our habitually indulging in inordinate desires kills the needy of the world. It makes us slaves of our addiction to wants, which in turn leads us to believe that our wants are indeed needs. Our inordinate pleasure has brought tragedy to ourselves, and to everyone around us and connected to us.

From a Christian viewpoint, Jesus calls us as his followers to complete renunciation of everything we own before we can become his true followers. This renunciation is detachment from things and stuff that impede our growth in a new spiritual way of life. By the gradual divestiture of our inordinate desires, we bring life and health to ourselves, our family and those with whom we share our life.

The U.S. can be a leader again at home and abroad, but this time in the realm of will and spirit. We can show the world that less can be more, and that in our charity we are receiving far more than we give.
 

- Kirth N. Roach | Order of Carmelite Discalced Secular Indianapolis

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