Where Are We Going? And How Do We Get There?
By DONALD DeMARCO
I am not a very good reader. Speed reading is not in my DNA. I pick up a book or a magazine and commence reading. But I do not get very far. A provocative sentence stops me in my tracks. I am compelled to meditate on the sentence and draw from it all the intellectual nourishment that it provides.
An example of my “read and stop” method is a sentence I came upon from an obscure text in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Although man has a natural inclination toward his ultimate end, he cannot attain it by natural means but by grace only, and this is because of the eminence of that very end.” This is a truly beautiful sentence, well-crafted and replete with rich philosophical and theological meaning. It must be savored before it can be digested.
“Inclination” is a key word in the writings of the Angelic doctor. All things have an inherent inclination or appetite toward something above or beyond their present situation. They are not static beings, but beings in motion, beings toward something that is fulfilling, beings that are restlessly moving from being incomplete to being less incomplete. If we did not have any inclinations, we would be unable to choose. If we had no appetite, we would be disinclined to eat. Without any inclinations, we would be indifferent to everything and remain inactive. But it is our inclinations that get us going.
We would always think, “Well, that’s not for me.” However, we have this push from the inside to do something that is consonant with this push. Our inclination, St. Thomas tells us, is ultimately for an end. All beings, in fact, act for an end.
There is a problem, however, for human beings. They often go off track, so to speak. This occurs when they choose something which they regard as good, but is not the good that leads them to their ultimate end. And this is why so many people are unhappy. They persist in chasing an illusion.
A second problem exists because human beings, in their pride, assume that they can arrive at their ultimate end exclusively by themselves. “I’ll do it my way,” croons Frank Sinatra. But “my way” is really the highway, the road that leads to nowhere. Although we have a natural inclination that inclines us to our ultimate end, which is to be with God, we cannot achieve it by ourselves. This is because the eminence, or the pure and undefiled quality of this end is beyond our reach.
We can get to the shore but we cannot traverse the vast and mighty Pacific alone. We need a boat or a plane. Likewise, in order to reach our supernatural end for which we have a natural affinity though it is beyond our grasp, we need God’s help. And this help arrives in the form of “grace.”
A small child can crawl along the floor, but he can rise owing to the strong arms of his father. So too, we need the strong arms of our God in order to cross the finish line of our lifelong journey. The “eminence” of our ultimate end enjoys a dignity that is not within our power to attain.
St. John Paul II echoed this notion in a general audience he gave in Rome on November 8, 1978: “We are all in some way aware that in this passing world it is not possible to realize the full measure of justice….Justice is, in a certain way, greater than man, than the dimensions of his earthly life. Every man lives and dies with a certain sense of insatiability for justice, because the world is not capable of satisfying fully a being created in the image of God.”
There is a rich consolation in this idea of imperfect man seeking a perfect glory. A great artist may create a masterpiece, but he knows only too painfully well, that it does not represent perfection. Though it intimates the infinite, it remains finite. Art can produce or create something that participates in beauty, but cannot produce or create Beauty itself.
Jacques Maritain has expressed the matter rather dramatically when he speaks of “pouring truths into the mold of our truest words” and then realizing that they seem to be “treason to truth.” Baudelaire describes the frustration the artist feels when his finest work is less than ideal as a certain “irritated melancholy.”
The paradox we all experience lies in the fact that we have a natural desire for ultimate happiness, but we need something other than nature to enable us to get there. It is like the bus that is supposed to take us to New York City, but is not able to get us beyond New Rochelle. We should not, however, be unduly frustrated by the limits of our finite nature. God is our co-pilot and will take us to the end of our journey.
St. Thomas abandoned writing when, in a mystical vision, he saw that all he had written was just so much “straw” (palea) in comparison to what God had in store for him. We do the best we can with the talents that God has given us. At the same time, we welcome the assistance and encouragement that God will provide.
Life is a complex journey, but we should never think that we are traveling alone.
