By: Peter cox
“Weep for yourself my man, you’ll never be what is in your heart”.
Mumford and Sons.
“Unless you are born again , you cannot see the Kingdom of God”
John 3:3
Thomas Aquinas said “all things in moderation. ” Following the mantra of the Angelic Doctor I occasionally drink beer.
Invariably, I tell my Islamic friend and teetotal colleague Anwar about the previous evening at work the next day. We run a restaurant in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Among many other fascinating conversations with my Arabic Tutor at Edinburgh University recently we discussed the effect that alcohol has on the human soul. Both these voices – Anwar and my Arabic tutor – have been voices of moderation for me. Both very wise Islamic men. Anwar will invariably say “Did you lose your vision last night, Pete?” This essay will discuss what this means.
Recent research has concluded that physically, alcohol in fact shrinks the brain, destroying brain cells in the process – not to mention liver cirrhosis. The lack of inhibition induced by alcohol can also damage relationships. It is likely that if alcohol was discovered today then it would be illegal. I discovered recently the root of the word Alcohol is in fact from the Arabic for “Flesh eating spirit.
” Body and soul are connected. In a previous article – Dreams – the Scottish Association for Inter-religious Dialogue put forward its support for the phone ban in schools. Social media takes young minds away from more spiritual thoughts as it appeals to what the Swiss Psychologist Carl Jeung called ego. SAID applauds the Australian government for banning phones in schools – and calls upon the Scottish Government to do the same. This article will discuss the similar effect that alcohol can have on people’s individual dreams, and how this relates to the collective good. The ego is that part of the human psyche that is built up in youth in order to protect the individual. In the same way that social media promotes the ego in young people, alcohol similarly appeals to the smaller part of the human person. However the mature human is a social being. This article will demonstrate that as we mature spiritually there is a need to circumvent the ego if we are to realise our dreams in the collective. In contrast to spiritual life – lack of concern for long-term consequences and a “quick fix” mindset mean that route one is taken to individual, short term happiness when we drink. The sense of social cohesion that alcohol creates is fleeting, artificial and short lived. In contrast – supernatural life – from the Greek “Zoe” or “life in abundance” is the antithesis of that which we achieve by the cheap consumption of alcohol. Martin Luther was wrong; Grace is complementary to human nature.
This is the path that God has laid out for the individual soul, no matter his or her denomination or creed. It is ajourney – a via. There is no “quick fix” in spiritual life. Spiritual life is daily cooperation between free will and the Grace of God. We need to work at it. The Albaquorque Fransiscan Richard Rohr characterises the Spiritual life as the Big Man. When we over- indulge in alcohol or drugs – we are stuck in the Little Man – with all of its animal wants and desires. On the other hand – when we are in the Big Man – a life built daily upon grace – a Life which Jesus compared to a house built upon solid rock (Matthew 7: 24-27), we escape from Plato’s cave into the real world outside. The Kingdom of God is composed entirely of Initiated men and women who have been “born
again. ” John 3:3 says that we must be “born again. ” Plato characterised the “Little Man” as the shadows upon the wall of the cave. In fact, the “Little Man” is the ego from which we must escape if we are to be allowed to enter into God’s way of doing things. This is the true meaning of Jesus’ words to the religious leader Nicodemus in the Gospel of John in John 3:3. . This is the only way that we are emancipated to follow our dreams – God’s loving Blueprint for our lives. We initiate others to do the same. CS Lewis was a genius – he made complicated ideas seem very simple. CS Lewis characterised the exit from Plato’s cave very well in The Great Divorce. In The Great Divorce having exited the weekly bus from Hell, the soul was released to walk in Heaven for the very first time. The soul found it very difficult – the grass was too hard for him to walk on. In other words – he had just exited Plato’s cave. Reality was too real for him. St Paul characterises this in his Epistles when he talks of giving “Milk” rather than “Meat” to new believers. God wishes us to thrive. No matter our creed or background, humility brings us more into line with who we are in God. Humility frees us to be our true selves in God. False humility is the belief that we are unworthy of His attention – leading us to ignore our dreams and to follow money on one side or blind religion on the other. On the other hand – when we are born again – we come to thrive more and more in God. We begin to yearn more and more for the mechanisms of holiness – suffering and prayer.
Suffering and prayer – God’s hallmarks – are signs of a chosen soul – taking us closer to God at source. In all things – there is a fascinating connection between the subjective and the objective. Suffering and prayer propel the individual and the collective towards God. As individuals – When looking for quick fix solutions – in drugs or alcohol – we circumvent this necessary mechanism, momentarily forgetting what we have built, a life lived according to cooperation with divine grace. This is how our vision can be lost. The corporate result is that the end of Western hegemony beckons.
However, there is hope. Whatever our denomination or creed – either cooperatively or individually – there is always mercy to fall back on. This is how we move forward. This is God’s mechanism for growth, as individuals and as a collective. When we are born again we are emancipated precisely to free others. When we are taken back to the ego – the small man – by drugs or alcohol – we lose sight of the exit to Plato’s cave. This is the real reason why alcohol can be so dangerous. When we drink to excess we can lose sight of who we really are in God. The “quick fix” means that we fall back into the ego – into the “Little Man. We momentarily lose God’s vision for our lives, regaining it only by His Grace.There seems to be something intrinsic to human nature – subjectively and collectively – which involves taking two steps forward and one step backwards. Having acquired a reasonable foothold on the slippery slope that leads from the cave we start to again “live for the weekend, ” taking a step two steps towards the light, and one step backwards towards the chains of slavery and death. Content to look at shadows on a wall , rather than reality – we become like the Israelites of the Old Testament. Wondering in the desert, the Israelites complained to Moses, longing instead for the fleshpots of their Egyptian captivity. This is what it means to live for the weekend. Jean-Jaques Rossou said “All men are born free, but everywhere are found in chains.
” In a modern context Karl Marx’ similar observations on the nature of religion as “the opium of the masses “ might as well apply to alcohol. Subjectively, the cycle of Birth, Death and Resurrection that is the basic blueprint for life repeats itself and we move forward strengthened by God’s redeeming Power and Grace. This occurs not only with individuals – but with modern nations too. Having achieved reasonable financial stability, post industrial occidental nations now struggle with Spiritual Fulfilment. Not only the Proletariat but now the bourgeois work – all week long – for beer tokens for the weekend. Lack of education , alcohol and drug abuse are prevalent. This is the exact antithesis of The Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Enslavement to alcohol means that we can no longer see the Kingdom. In America the Fentanyl pandemic has proved that Drugs and alcohol are misguided forms of escape. Closer to home, nowhere is this more evident than in modern Scotland – Scotland consistently tops the table with the highest amount of drug deaths in Europe. A keen Munro climber and adventurer, an old friend of mine – an excellent manager during the week – asked her colleagues, “So what are you doing at the weekend?” Many will respond “Nothing, just getting pissed”
There is seldom a more tragic figure from history than “Bonnie” Prince Charlie, who died an alcoholic on the streets of Rome in January 1788. The tragic eighteenth century Scottish Jacobite leader Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Was born in the Muti Palace in Rome in 1720. Also known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie” – the young Prince arrived on the shores of mainland Scotland at Arisaig in the Scottish Highlands in 1745. The young Prince was determined to reclaim the throne of the troubled United Kingdom for his Stuart Father James VI. When told to “Go home” by some of the initially sceptical Highland Chieftains the young Prince replied “I Am come home. ” In the form of Clan Cameron reinforcements soon arrived over the hill. Many more reinforcements followed. This was the true beginning of the “the 45. ” He raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan on the 19th of August 1745, marking the beginning of the second Jacobite rebellion. With the Famous Highland Charge Bonnie Prince Charlie soon took Scotland for his Catholic father and came close to London. In 1746 the Jacobites were on the backfoot. Ethnic cleansing in the Highlands followed the disastrous Battle of Culloden near Inverness – at which the Jacobite rebellion was finally crushed.However – the Highland Spirit could not be crushed. Following the attempts in 1715 and 1745 in song – and in folklore – the Highland Jacobites wished that their Prince “would come back again” for a third Jacobite rebellion. The only way to tap into the collective is to transcend the ego. A tragic character from History – Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Dream of reclaiming the British throne for his Stuart father coincided with – and affected a lot of people. Who knows where his soul lay in relation to God? However what we do know is that there was no third Jacobite rebellion. Prince Charles’ dream was not to be. In the absence of promised French support Charles’ Uncle became a Cardinal and the cause simply became “too Catholic” for many of the Episcopalian Highland chieftains. Prince Charles Edward Stuart – and his dream – died in an alcoholic haze on the Streets of Rome some 40 years after the ‘45. The only way to access one’s dreams is to transcend the ego. When we over-indulge we lose sight of God’s long term vision for our life – our Dreams. In a work context I have been learning more about this. In Anwar’s restaurant in Edinburgh everyone does everything together. In the spirit of Islamic fraternity everyone supports each other. Using their God-given abilities and talents everyone comes together to support the common good – everyone contributes to get the job done and Pyramida moves forward, serving rich and poor alike. Particularly where dreams are concerned, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Humility – from the root of the word “Force” in Hebrew – brings us more inline with our Dreams. The discipline of individually praying five times a day certainly contributes to this. In my humble tradition – Daily Mass, the Sacraments and the Holy Rosary are similar conduits of Grace. Religion – properly practiced – can in fact be a useful mechanism which aids the necessary journey of self discovery. My islamic brothers at Pyramida are humble – they all know their place in the Dream. Under Anwar’s leadership, the collective thrives. There is no place for ego at Pyramida. This article is dedicated to Graham, one of our most loyal customers who tragically died. Graham – you continue to inspire us. This is our country.
Peter cox : President – Scottish Association for Inter religious Dialogue