Temperance watch

With the way things are developing nowadays, I strongly feel we need to have some kind of temperance watch installed, first, in our own individual selves, then in the family, community, society, and in every aspect of our life.

We cannot take things for granted anymore. There’s so much insobriety, lack of balance, fairness and objectivity in our communication, a lot of exaggerations and self-indulgence around.

The irony of it all is that in spite of our flagrant and screaming socio-economic problems, we on the whole can still afford to be wasteful of our resources. We seem to create our own version of “me-generation.”

Of course, behind this disturbing phenomenon are many complicated factors and causes. We have to study and assess them, and come up with appropriate plans and strategies to continuingly grapple with the problem.

The aberrations are not only in the area of food and drinks, in the way we live our human sexuality, but also in the way we are developing our media culture, our entertainment, fashion, sports and over-all lifestyle.

The other day while browsing through a number of newspapers and magazines, I got the impression there is a conspirational effort to highlight worldly pleasures at the expense of spiritual values.

Vanity is teased out when in writing about celebrities, for example, feats are brought out more for the pride of people than for the effort, sacrifices involved and their objective contribution to the true development of persons and society.

Many writers are hooked with that kind of mentality. Some others amuse me because it seems they do not realize they are being imbalanced and unfair when in expressing their views, everything boils down automatically, for example, to either being anti-GMA or anti-Erap. Even when they talk about sports…

There’s some kind of obsession, to the extent that one can start questioning the sanity of these writers. They are not simplifying things for us.  They are being simplistic.

Temperance has to be a constant concern for all of us. As a virtue, it is not only concerned with self-denials and sacrifices, though they are always unavoidable. It denies something to affirm a better value.

It would be wrong to associate it mainly with the negative things involved in it—the discipline and regimen, the self-control and saying no to oneself, etc. Its main job is not just suppressing certain things. It’s interested in developing a sense of self-dominion and refinement in manners.

It’s a positive virtue because in the end it fosters the supernatural tone of our life. It produces inner peace and joy, and the conflicts between the flesh and the soul are mitigated. Our sense of God and brotherhood increases.

Of course, even in the human level, temperance is required. How many people have to deny themselves from eating certain food to be in good health, or just to keep a good shape and form for their bodies?

The athletes and other sports-minded people eagerly submit themselves to diets and schedules and check-ups, restraining if not inhibiting themselves from certain activities just to be in their proper fighting condition.

We don’t have to mention the “sacrifices” and other humiliating practices beauty-conscious people so willingly undergo just to achieve their desires.

The virtue of temperance, of course, goes beyond these objectives. It brings us closer to God and the others, since it imbues our body and everything related to it—our feelings, imagination, etc.—not only with right reason, but with the spiritual sense proper to us.

Our life acquires an added dimension, often missed out when temperance is neglected. We would see things more penetratingly, more discerningly.  We would handle things in a more refined way and with a better sense of purpose.

We have to concretize the details involved in the temperance watch we are proposing. Like, we can start examining how long we are watching tv, using gadgets. How are we eating, drinking and regulating our sexual urges?

These are more in the personal and family levels. We have to have the corresponding guidelines when we tackle the higher levels of our society, media, entertainment, etc.

* * *

Email: [email protected]