Self-Wealth versus Spiritual Health

In our times we increasingly see a decline in spirituality – it is evident since the 1900’s and markedly obvious since the 1950’s (for example – see the charts at the bottom of this article).

 

What happened around those times that could have prompted a move away from spiritual belief? The two biggest and obvious global events were World War 1 and World War 2.

We might say that something happened in the collective human psyche across the globe to lead into both of the wars; perhaps there was a madness or mania that drove humans into a frenzy to kill their fellows en-masse (about 20 million deaths from World War 1, and at least 50 million from World War 2)? Perhaps it was an after-effect of the wars: having seen so much hatred for each other during the wars led humans into a type of post-traumatic stress characterised by an extreme lack of hope towards the future?

It may even have something to do with the increasing rise of materialism and self-determinism since the start of the industrial revolution. The creation of steam-driven engines, the arrival of aircraft, and the advent of the motor vehicle all contributed to increasing ease of travel and exploration around the globe. This, in turn, might have driven the desire for conquest, initially through land grabs and then through resource hoarding and stockpiling. Ultimately all was driven by aspirations for imperialism and global dominance, which might have been the catalyst for the world wars. 

Certainly the emergence of true globalisation since the 1980’s led to an explosion in world trade accompanied by massive developments in financial markets which contributed to growth in material wealth and greed never seen before.

Materialism drives self-determinism because people identify their sense of self with their wealth. In a world that depends on money for survival and success, the person with the most is the winner and the ruler. 

If money is all it takes to make me the most important person in the world then who needs some intangible notion of an unseen entity called God? After all, it’s not God who brings me money, and material wealth, it’s my own endeavours in the global markets. The only person I trust in is me. Right? No – it’s wrong!

If we discard our true identity – that we are, before all else, a soul, which ultimately comes from God – we lose all connection with God; we become a lost soul. Unfortunately lost souls with no spiritual consciousness do not find enlightenment, and without enlightenment they cannot transcend this world of darkness filled with material inequality, hatred, jealousy, violence, war and death. Lost souls are prone to return to this world over and over again as instruments of the fallen. All of this is explained much more neatly in my book “Transcendence”.

It’s easy to reject spirituality; it takes no real effort or material expense at all. But it does carry a significant cost: the loss of our soul. I guess this is what Jesus Christ was trying to tell us in Matthew 19: 23-24.

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Image: Saint Michael's Mount, Cornwall, UK. Copyright - Michael Beaton

NOTE: I chose this picture because the Mount symbolises us as humans. When the tide is out, the Mount is connected to the mainland and is accessible by foot, but when the tide comes in the Mount becomes an island isolated from the mainland. If we remain connected to the "spiritual mainland" we will always have a chance of finding enlightenment and our way to uniting with God, but if we reject our spiritual connection we will become cut off from the "spiritual mainland" and will become isolated islands lost in a sea of "spiritual void".