I love books. I read books. Books have a lot to teach us. Experience, of course, is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards. Our life is a very long journey where, sometimes, we are the teacher but, every day, we learn something new. And we yearn to learn more.
Every book has the soul of both the author and of the reader; of he who dreamt the words and those who read them. A book does not speak but it can become like a sharp tongue.
Man learns to contemplate the infinite universe of beauty through books. The problem is that we are living in a world of stupidity where intelligence is ignored and education is out of fashion. According to Socrates: “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realise how little we understand about life, about ourselves and, especially, about the world around us.”
Our soul and our body struggle.
Selfishness and the undying quest of satisfaction make us renounce our very dignity. As monotony prevails, man fears defending himself from being conditioned by today’s world, by the environment that surrounds us.
We experience continuous battles both in our mind and in our heart, which, though shattered repeatedly, still lives.
In Malta, we have become slaves of erroneous ideologies. We are weak, dragged by politics and the mass media to seek futile ‘rights’.
The sentiments of us humans have become very artificial: principles and faith are pushed aside. We lack originality and natural beauty. Yet, we tend to accept it, unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Indeed, we remain silent.
This is what Virginia Woolf had to say about silence: “I want to write a novel about silence. The things about silence, the things people don’t say or are afraid to say.” One can, indeed, write books about what people in these islands are concealing deep in their hearts, perhaps afraid to say it. They only seem to dream about money, egoism, power, satisfaction, cheating on each other, lack of responsibility and transparency.
We do not realise that, at the moment, we are facing social rebellion, within ourselves but also with regard to those with the responsibility to govern our islands.
“When a citizen is under poor leaders,” Simon Sinek remarked, “we work for a company; with good leaders, we feel like we work for each other.”
The problem is, not too many have a clear conscience. Also, intelligent people are full of doubts while the stupid ones are full of confidence.
Nature gave us two ears and a tongue and, therefore, we must try to listen, to reflect and then talk. Marcus Aurelius wrote: “Most of what we say and do is not essential.” We must keep asking ourselves: Is this necessary? One who asks a question is a fool for a moment but the one that does not ask anything is a fool for life.
We cannot spend sleepless nights trying to solve all our problems. This is what Paul Bane advises: “When the world is falling apart around you, understand: you have no power to hold it together. The only power you have is letting go and releasing the chaos of your life in the loving hands of Christ who will carry you through it.”
Corruption and greed terrify everyone because they widen the gap between the rich and the poor- Fr Charles Cini
But we are moving into a totally non-religious age in which man no longer has the will to be able to take religion seriously.
The Bible teaches us that to be a Christian today you must go in search of beauty: that is, God and His teachings. A man with a dull heart and living in darkness (sin) cannot be happy.
So, every human being must, in one way or another, become an artist in life, looking for beauty, certainty and originality.
We must also learn to forgive because, rather than weakening us, it sets us free. “As I stand before the door of my freedom, I realise that if I don’t leave my pain, my anger and bitterness behind me, I will still be in prison.” Nelson Mandela made this statement shortly before he left his prison cell after more than 27 years.
Sometimes, there are things in our life we need to leave behind. Sometimes, there are things in our life we are not meant to say.
But, sometimes, the changes we do not want are the changes we need in order to grow. And, sometimes, walking away is a step forward.
This is a message I would like to convey to every person on these islands, especially in the horrible situation we are living in Malta and Gozo.
I also address myself to MPs. They ought to bear in mind they were elected with our votes but they seem to fail to realise there are too many people suffering and struggling to live.
They were given power to represent all the citizens of Malta and Gozo and, hence, they are responsible for each one of them, their dignity and liberty as a human being.
Incompetence and overconfidence are annoying many people. Corruption and greed terrify everyone because they widen the gap between the rich and the poor. We ought to heed David Hume’s wise warning that “corruption of the best things give rise to the worst”.
Mind you, I know that nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes; we speak the wrong words and do the wrong things. We fall but we get up again. We learn, we grow, we move on and we live.
The most powerful tears are not the ones that fall from our eyes and cover our face; they are the ones that fall from our heart and cover our soul.
Read the eloquent words of the late Queen Elizabeth II: “When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are determined to struggle for a better future.”
Mandela, again: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph of it. The brave man is not he who is not afraid but he who conquers that fear.”
Malta and Gozo, we have to rebel by being positive.
Fr Charles Cini is a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.