Quis nos es futurus nos es decens

Given my blog’s theme it’s a happy coincidence that the Latin motto of my daughter’s school roughly translates as: 'We are going to be who we are becoming' (apologies to classicists – my Latin O was a long time ago). It’s a hopeful message, alluding to the fulfilment of potential. The school’s mission claims to prepare the students for 'international institutions of higher learning and [to] become global citizens.' Reasonable and worthy goals. We’ve certainly signed up for them, though I’m not exactly sure what a global citizen is? Someone who can order from a menu in French, German, Spanish, Arabic or Mandarin? Someone who cares enough about their patterns of consumption and carbon footprint to live an eco-friendly, fair trade life? Someone whose cyber-activism can bring about welcome change thousands of miles away?

Or just someone who can serve the global banking fraternity equally productively in whatever hemisphere, continent or country they are posted?

We live life under a spell of linearity and purposefulness. Start here, end there. Make an intention, set a goal, take steps towards the goal, arrive! Bingo! Start again.  Branch out. Which one of us doesn't entertain multiple goals on multiple levels? 

The last several decades have seen the influence of traditional organized religion morph extensively and the whole self-actualization scene proliferate. Becoming something better, something ‘more’ than we ‘are’ seems to drive us all. The chronology of life is mimicked by our notions of progress. A lot of it revolves around how to 'get' what you 'want' - dream-weaving into actuality. The commercial success of enterprises like 'The Secret' have tapped into the realization that subtle universal laws govern our earthly experience – Allah’s ‘sunnah’ as it were. In this instance the attitude of gratitude is the key and keeping a gratitude journal is supposed to keep the law of attraction fizzing away in your favour and sending you all the things you want. The Qur'anic equivalent is of course ‘la'inn shakartum, la azidannakum’ -‘Give thanks and I shall increase you [in favour]’ [14:7]. What all the babble about the power of attraction doesn’t elucidate is the concomitant law of repulsion. But I digress.

I can't help feeling that the idea of arrival is a false one. Is there ever a point reached that is conclusive and final? (Yes, yes, death is pretty final, I know! Or is it? More on this another time!) Isn't the nature of our life-experience more organic? Our goals often seem to evolve. What was the stuff of dreams as a teenager changes in one's twenties, thirties, forties and so on. 

Often when we 'achieve', the sense of achievement isn't as satisfying as we thought it would be. The hole isn't filled, and so we move on, seeking something that will sustain us fully. This questing impulse in the core of our being impels us to become, to evolve, grow, change, strive. The becoming is a process. Maybe it reflects what the Qur’an says: ‘Every day He is in a [new] state [of glory]’ [55:29]. Every day is fresh, every moment new, every second a new moment in which to be!

p.s. For some delightful musical accompaniment to this blog, here's a song by Alexi Murdoch, 'All My Days' which my daughter just made me listen to. Rich mellifluous acoustics, honest lyrics...('Yes, even breathing feels alright...') Definitely a track to help you savour the moment. Thanks darling!

Glossary:

Sunnah: way, custom, pattern of behavior.