There's an old saying…. " There but for the grace of God go I".
The origin of the proverb is hazy and I rarely hear it uttered these day's. Maybe that’s because I don't tend to hang around churches, or maybe it's just simply fading from the collective memory and only a scattered few still keep the flame alive. You can take the phrase literally. If it wasn't for God looking out for me then I would be in the same position as that beggar, or that drunk or some other poor unfortunate who has caught my attention, and caused me to feel empathy for their plight. If you really believe your destiny is controlled by a higher power, then that would make sense, but what about the rest of us, those who believe that we make our own destiny and that no spiritual being is guiding the way?
We could change the words but still retain the meaning. We can say there but for a stroke of luck, a quirk of fate or the positive influence of another, go I. Those alternatives don't sound as pretty as the original but the meaning remains intact and it is the meaning that is important. The words are simply a device used to communicate the meaning and words, along with languages, God's and civilisations, all rise, fall and eventually fade from memory.
Throughout history religions have claimed meaning as though they conjured certain ideas or moral values from the ether and it belongs to them. Usually a priesthood, a king or an elite collection of scholars held the keys to this meaning. They (and they alone) could interpret signs, symbols and scripture and the rest of the plebs had to accept their version or fear the wrath of God, or in truth, the state wearing the mask of God.
Knowledge is power and so the powerful few use it to control, to pacify and to occasionally incite the swarming masses. Once upon a time we were issued with information during our weekly trips to the Church, the Mosque or the Synagogue. We were told to do this, do that and don't do the other and any failure to obey these commands would result in spiritual repercussions. Hell, damnation, our souls burning for eternity in a flaming pit. We believed this was possible, we trusted that our leaders had our best interest at heart and so we obeyed. Not because we wanted to, of course, but because we were scared not to. We lived in fear of death and in fear of the unknown “inevitable.”
There are millions, if not billions, in this world, who still live with that same old fear today.
What about the others though? The flock that strayed from the altar and looked for their meanings in philosophy and psychology, in science and evolution? They don't fear the devils pitchfork, they don't believe what they what are told. They seek answers themselves and interpret their own meaning without the aid of a spiritual advisor.
So. How do you control a person who no longer fears Death? The answer is simple. You make them fear life instead.
Murderers, Paedophiles, Swine flu, Terrorists, Nuclear Weapons, Disease. You need your government, your state, to protect you from all of these bogeymen don’t you? You need to give a portion of your money to your government in order to enable them to keep these monsters from your door. They should issue a poster of an Arabic-looking gent holding a syringe and a detonator, coughing all over a naked six year old just to remind us of why we need to put our faith in the state and the system……. and unfortunately the majority of us are still believers. How else do you explain the fact that we elect the same parties into office even though they have a long history of robbing us blind and working for the benefit of the rich at the expense of the poor? Sure they throw us a bone every so often and give us certain “rights, the right to vote, the right to an education and the right to drink ourselves into a stupor, but it seems for every right they give us, they take a few away. Just the little ones mind, the ones that seem insignificant until you add up them all up and realise that every small piece of a jigsaw makes a larger picture.
We are still issued with information through the church, only now it’s a broad church and in high definition. We are still told what to believe, what to hate, what to care about and what to fear but our priests and leaders have replaced the cassocks and crowns with pin stripe suits and diamond cufflinks. In order to hold onto the reigns of power you have to adapt and move with the times or you’ll lose your grip and they know that they can’t frighten us with mythological tales anymore. They know that many of us have read the holy books and drawn our own conclusions and they know (that we know) that the fear of Hell is just a waning method of social control.
But they are also aware that the majority of us do not want to die. Some of us live in houses and some live in huts but we would much rather be alive than dead. Sure, it would be perfect if we all drifted off in our sleep at a ripe old age but only the lucky ones are bestowed with that honour.
The rest of us succumb to the ravages of decay, disease and terminal illness. There will be pain, there will be misery and there will be tears and although we may want to deny it, that is just the way the human body rolls and all the wishing or praying in the world will not change that.
We all know this of course, we always have It’s just not something we like to admit. It’s a giant negative, the elephant in the room and it’s difficult to live your life your life dwelling in such darkness. Still, knowing what we know, and being powerless to stop it, surely means that none of us should ever live in fear? Why fucking worry about it?
We are all in the same boat and we are all going to end up in the same ground so It’s not so much “ There but for the Grace of God go I”, but “There but for the grace of God goes us”
Or even better, as quoted by Death in that epic morality tale of our time (otherwise known as Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey)………
“You may be a king or a little street-sweeper, but sooner or later you will dance with the reaper!”
Amen.
(2010)
