Thinking Anew: If you drop a pebble in a rock-pool the ripples spread out, getting smaller and smaller as they move further away. Eventually the surface returns to its original state and there appears to have been no change.
But there is a change: the mass of the pebble has made the pool a little bit deeper. In a similar way we go through life creating ripples that fade with time but when our influence appears to have disappeared we can console ourselves that we have made our society that little bit deeper than it was before we lived. At least, that is how it should be.
For most of us our direct influence will last only one or two generations.Some political leaders and other famous people have a more lasting influence, but these are few and far between. Most of us can trace our influences as far back as our own grandparents and these in turn from theirs. But the outer circles are small and decrease with the passing generations and time until their immediate effect is hardly felt at all.
Historians often refer to history repeating itself - and it does, often at intervals of no greater than two generations when there are few of the older ones to remind us of what happened before. Two examples that come to mind are immigration and neo-Nazism. In the 1950s economic migrants from Ireland were not welcomed in the UK; two generations later these emigrants' grandchildren extend the same hostility to economic migrants to Ireland. Throughout Europe the rise of new fascist groups causes political alarm. With every passing year there are fewer survivors who remember at first hand the horrors of the Third Reich and as these die only their grandchildren remain to plead the case they learned. And their own children are growing increasingly sceptical. As time passes the influence of these people will lessen, the ripples getting weaker and weaker until we reach the point where history repeats itself again. Just look at how easily the West rattles its weapons at those who oppose its interests and it is clear that we are capable of repeating our mistakes of the past.
Who can provide a repository for the pebbles that earlier generations have added to the pool of human life? History and documentaries record these people but there is always a tendency to reject their claims as propaganda. Monuments and even tombs are regularly defaced as the lessons of the past are ignored and ridiculed. The real lives that could teach us so much are denied the honour of making society deeper.
It is here that faith communities have a real role. We are the custodians of a message of peace and good will to all and it is here that real human development can take place. Unlike a typical family, a united community can hold lessons from the past for far longer than for two generations. As guardians of an organic tradition we can learn from past mistakes and work towards making the world a better and safer place.
This is a challenge that we must not be shy of; for centuries we have preserved the memory and influence of the great saints in our traditions. Maybe now is a good time to seek out new examples that can inspire all people with a sense of dignity, tolerance and peace, making new waves.
F.MacE.