BLESSED JOHN PAUL II… A LIFE WELL SPENT

A recent post asked, how will your obituary be written? Ever since being university trained by the Jesuits and more recently after reading Cicero’s, “On a Life Well Spent,” I have purposely devoted much thought to the closely related question of “What makes life worth living?”

Cicero observed:

“A life employed in the pursuit of useful knowledge, in honorable action, and the practice of virtue yields an unspeakable comfort to the soul.”

Cicero’s view would qualify him for the Character Building Project.

Our second president, John Adams, in declaring, “the furnace of affliction produces refinement,” also addressed this question, in part, by making clear that peoples’ lives gain meaning by how they respond to adversity.

As one grows in age and wisdom, one’s character is refined and tested. With each new year, I realize that my well being is not measured by what I own, or what professional stature I have attained, or even whether I am emotionally satisfied at any particular time; rather, I have come to value instead how my character is being refined and is preparing me to face the adversity of aging.

Some readers may not agree that building one’s character and preparing for adversity is what makes life worth living. They might even cite the ancients and a cluster of “eat, drink, and be merry” quotes from Ecclesiastes and Proverbs that advocated for the “happiness-camp” approach. The Epicureans stated the secret to life is to avoid all suffering and sadness. This ancient school of thought said that the best way to be happy was to not want anything because it is in wanting things that one suffers pain.  Even the Bible (Ecclesiastes and Proverbs) warns us that we should enjoy life as much as possible for it will be over soon enough.

There are grains of truth in both views: building one’s character as the key to happiness that is proposed by the ancients is a reasonable approach, as is the notion from the Bible that one should gladly accept the “joys to balance our afflictions, “ for life is fleeting. However, we should also distinguish between grains and chaff and recall the advice of St. Paul to keep moderation in all things.

In my opinion, the pursuit of happiness of modern-day Epicureans has not kept moderation. It has contributed to an excess of self-gratification that has hastened the decline of our culture. Scanning the pages of Psychology Today and observing that the shelves of bookstores are filled with the “Art of Now,” and “Living Now.” I sense this “living-in-the-present“ entitlement view of society is chaff.  It seduces a self-indulgent generation into bankrupting the next.

In my view, the hedonism of our culture and the “living for today” schools unduly distract us from growing in character, which is truly living life well, whether faced by pleasure or pain.

Sunday’s beatification of the late John Paul II provided a sharp contrast to today’s hedonism.  I recalled Blessed JPII’s  long battle with Parkinson’s disease. What a contrast between Blessed JPII’s final suffering years as Pope and his earlier hiking and skiing years. When first elected, he was the picture of health, vigor, and vitality. Unlike some of the ancients who avoid all suffering and unlike most of the moderns who live excessively in the moment, Blessed John Paul II called upon his virtues of perseverance, patience, and faithfulness and used them to bear his infirmities as badges of honor. He was at peace as he suffered because he was always living for the Eternal Moment.

May our moments in the “furnace of afflictions” become opportunities to imitate the sanctifying sufferings of both Blessed John Paul and of Jesus Christ. May we all learn from JPII that cultivating virtue to sustain you when you are sorely tested in old age is truly a life well spent.