The Root of all Evil - Part 2

 The Root of all Evil – Part 2 – by P.K. Odendaal July 2023

My previous article on the root of all evil is pure drivel.

Will I delete that article or will I keep it here on my repertoire as a lesson in folly? Yes, I will keep it here, as the endeavour and accomplishment of humankind is fraught with error, omission, folly and evil. I make no excuse.

What this exercise in folly really taught me, is that an idea which has slumbered in my soul for too long - the idea that expressing an opinion is useless, fruitless, superficial and egoistic, has been let loose.

What really matters, for me at least, is the quest of expressing myself in honesty. That is why I write – to be honest with myself at least. Opinionated people – people like myself with idiosyncrasies are often bores. Again, no excuse. That is what it means to be human - trying to give advice to other people, but it is usually the wrong advice for the wrong malady - advice which we are not prepared to accept for our self in similar situations.

That reminds me of the statement by Gibran, in his book ‘The Prophet’, that giving of what we have is giving but little, it is only when we give of our self that we really give.

The catalyser which brought me back to my senses, in this respect, was a recent embarrassing relationship in which a person in my life tried to change me, without that party trying to change itself in the process. I must remain discreet - sorry.

That made me run from the source, as we all always do, when we stumble on the truth. After all - that is what a catalyser is and means - the ability to bring change to  something else, without being changing itself. Catalysers are too alien to my idea of being human, and that was probably, in itself, the reason that I ran.

If I am only a catalyser in changing someone else's life, without being changed myself in the process, I should run from myself, and that with speed! I should change in the process, and not remain a cold soul. In fact, I feel that I should change more than the people which I change, and that is not expressing an opinion, but expressing myself. Healer heal thyself.

Enough of this for now, and more on the root of all evil and why my previous excursion into that domain was so long on folly and so short on insight.

However, having made such a mistake, realising it and rectifying it - for me, that is really exercising a truly human activity of free will and of passion and meaning.

Only one statement in my previous article was true, and that was that making the love of money the culprit for the root of all evil is wrong. It is not true and is the pot calling the kettle black – an adage by Cervantes in his book ‘Don Quixote’.

The truth is that my free will is the root of all evil, and this sobering thought has stayed with me since the embarrassing situation cited above. I hope it will stay with me forever.

What amazes however, is that free will is also the cause of my redemption, which adds such rich meaning to the idea of free will.

It is such a rich and insightful idea that God used His free will to sacrifice Himself in the form of His Son, so that we may retain our free will and exercise it with care. That is what it means to be in the likeness of God, but not only that –  forgiving is also in His likeness.

Free will to choose Him, free will to let us err and learn from it. Free will to choose redemption from our folly and free will to accept His redemption for our sins and our souls.

But … we never venture in uncharted domain with our free will. Convention and compromise keeps us from doing that. We should more often read the lesson that Jean-Paul Sartre teaches us on free will.

So let us start using our free will by changing ourselves first. Just a little change, small so say the least, as in the song from Beauty and the Beast:

Tale as old as time, true as it can be.

Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly.

Just a little change, small to say the least.

Both a little scared, neither one prepared

Ever just the same, ever a surprise.

Ever as before, ever just as sure as the sun will rise.

Tale as old as time, tune as old as song.

Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong.