I have been musing about our culture in ‘the West’ for a few months now. Politics – our leaders! The Church – our spiritual teachers! No easy answers to the overall lack of wisdom. Everybody seems to ‘know’ what is right!!!! As for humility? Blah! Who needs that!

Many causes seem to conspire to create chaos – and some are downright obvious … and, yes, the ‘Younger Generation’ can be just as guilty. But so-called ‘mature folk’ need to look in the mirror for starters. A lifetime experience of getting some things wrong should benefit the soon to be new ‘adults on the block.’

D H Lawrence says so much, for starters, in the short poem he called ‘Courage.’

Courage

What makes people unsatisfied
is that they accept lies.

If people had courage, and refused lies
and found out what they really felt and really meant
and acted on it,

They would distil the essential oil out of every experience
and like hazel-nuts in autumn, at last
be sweet and sound.

And the young among the old
would be as in the hazel-woods of September
nutting, gathering nuts of ripe experience.

As it is, all that the old can offer
is sour, bitter fruits, cankered by lies.