Like a flock of birds, the cluster of children in the image above darts across the grass, pursuing the ball as it careens toward the distant goal. For the parents and other adults standing on the sidelines, the sight awakens memories of their own childhood, when all that mattered was the excitement of the chase, when abandoning oneself to the joy of pursuit was the norm.
But for the young athletes above, the abandonment is still all there is. There is no sense of the need to step back from the moment, to subdue emotion and discipline the impulses, to rein in the sheer delight of action, to slow down and think. These lessons will come later.
So too with life in the larger world, as we mature and leave behind the playing field, and find ourselves in the more serious arenas of adult life. Most of us are able to exercise self-control, to be less driven by impulse, not perhaps in every area of life, but certainly in those areas we deem practical.
But once we enter the world of ideas, especially those grand schemees that promise to heal the world, we often lose our discipline and self-control. We may find one idea that draws us close, that strikes us in the heart with force. Is this idea to be our North Star, promising to heal deep injustice, or perhaps to protect us from that which we fear? Our eyes and mind fixed on our distant goal, we abandon the discipline of thought and self-control, giving in to the wildest hopes as if pursuing a dream. Like the children above chasing the ball, we run pell-mell after the promising idea as it skips and dances in front of us, leading us on, we hope to Paradise – or at least to a much better world.
People caught in the grip of an idea often say “I will do anything for the cause” – be it the latest call for social justice or some other political or social movement. That word ”anything” can range from ringing doorbells and sending emails to ending the career of someone we disagree with. Taken literally, it can run all the way to murder and mayhem.
Of course, most of us, when speaking this way, are not being literal. Yet when we find this phrase – “I will do anything for the cause” – echoing in our mind, it is a sign that we have surrendered our autonomy, our independence, to something outside ourselves. We are in the grip of an idea that might have served us and others well, had we only reined it in a bit, but that has instead become our tyrannical master. As psychologist Carl Jung said, “We don’t have ideas. Instead, ideas have us.”
When powerful emotions are harnessed to such a magnetic idea, we can find ourselves driven blindly forward, our eyes fixed on the distant goal. At such times, few tasks are more difficult than finding moderation, subduing emotion and disciplining the impulses – in short, to slow down and think.
Severing the blink-of-an-eye connection between the sighting of a worthy goal and the mad rush down the field creates a space in which we can practice the discipline of thought and reflection. Here the classical virtue of prudence, with its counsel of caution and care, offers help. This virtue teaches us to make wise decisions, to carefully examine an idea from all angles, not just the perspective we are driven to by emotion or by the limits of our own vision. In short, to remember that neither strength of feelings nor certainty of vision can ensure a good end.
