One of the more surprising lines of scripture that I have come across is Hebrews 3:13, which simply states: “Keep encouraging one another as long as the day lasts.”
Perhaps it is just me, but I find that short line both striking and rather moving in its simplicity: it is not about God or warning us to pray or about anything obviously related to religion. Rather, it gives a simple message about how we should engage with each other.
I have had the power of this simple truth brought home to me during an LRP – Long-Range Pilgrimage – through the winter, which took me along Germany’s Jakobsweg (the German part of the Camino de Santiago), limping into Trier before reaching the border with France and continuing southwards towards Le Puy-en-Velay. So often, just when I have been feeling down or struggling, at that very point I have had a stranger offer an encouraging comment, a token of goodwill or a hand on the shoulder. The effect cannot be underestimated – it is incredibly galvanising and restorative.
Unfortunately, many people today are forgetting this, stuck on their phones, literally losing the ability to interact, let alone go so far as to be bold enough to encourage someone. It is a growing problem. We all need encouragement. Every day. But especially at the start of the year, which is always a tough time for most.
The post-festive blues that can all too easily dominate January roll on into February, as the morale-sapping interplay between the dark and often dismal weather and our bodies and psychology continues (and that is before you factor in any particular personal challenges a person might be having to contend with).
While one can try to console oneself with the thought that spring is not that far ahead – which is true – at the same time you may have noticed that “dark times” is not just a literal reference to the months of winter we are going through. It refers figuratively to the deeply discouraging state of the UK and the modern world. It can easily appear as if we are living through some latter-day Dark Ages.
One contemporary writer who is particularly effective at describing this worrying, if not downright unnerving, situation is Paul Kingsnorth in his recent book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity. Kingsnorth, a former self-described eco-warrior and now an Orthodox Christian, writes: “You just know that something is wrong. Everybody tells you that you feel this because you are infected with something called ‘nostalgia’, or that you picked up a dose of ‘Luddism’ or ‘Romanticism’… Basically, there is something wrong with you. You don’t understand Progress, which is always and everywhere a Good Thing.”
“But,” Kingsnorth continues, “you can feel something going on that is not a good thing, and it does not matter how many lies, damned lies or statistics are produced to prove otherwise… All we know is that some force has been leashed in our world which we are struggling to contend with. A huge change is birthing itself; a change in our human relationship with nature, with each other, with our past, with our tools. With everything.”
Compounding this is the slow death of human-based communication we are witnessing in society today. Increasingly, people are unwilling to engage with others. It is becoming taboo even to approach a stranger. Attempts to go against the zeitgeist and engage with humanity are labelled as “creepy” and “weird”, not to mention the feminist push against so-called “mansplaining” in an effort to shut down men (and thereby, it is argued, do exactly to men what feminists accuse the patriarchy of doing to women throughout history).
At the same time, the few forms of “encouragement” that are approved of and given the green light in the public square are often highly questionable, certainly for Catholics. From the grotesquery of the Shout Your Abortion “rights movement” to the relentless propaganda around LGBTQI+ ideology and Pride Month – as Kingsnorth adroitly notes, named after one of the seven deadly sins – what is and is not encouraged tells you a great deal about the times we are living in.
It is a world awash with cynicism, nihilism and anti-love, in which small minorities are allowed and praised for proclaiming particularly niche, if not entirely suspect and uncorroborated, statements – demands, almost – while the masses are encouraged to hold their tongues, comply, conform and march in lockstep.
The increasingly atomised nature of modern lifestyles is the antithesis of that advice from Hebrews. It is not doing us much good – acting as hemlock to human flourishing – hence the endless lamentations about loneliness.
Compounding the exponential increase in loneliness is the lack of sage advice being passed on from one generation to another. Everyone needs mentors and advice from both sexes. On my LRP, I noticed that men would typically give less overt forms of encouragement, but which spoke to the overall mission and helped one not throw in the towel, while women were prone to clearer acts of kindness in the immediate moment. Both strands of encouragement are needed – the masculine “prodding/reassurance” aspect along with the feminine “nurturing/nourishing” characteristic – but especially by younger generations trying to find their feet.
They, however, are not getting it; at least not face to face, which is the most effective form. Instead, both young men and women are turning to social media and even to AI in an effort to mitigate the dearth of non-digital communication.
The remedy should not be so hard. Speak out. Identify someone who needs guidance. Offer that piece of advice (chaps, get “mansplaining” again). Ignore the self-appointed censors. Ignore the negative, morale-sapping messaging from so much of the media and entertainment industry. Take drastic action if need be.
“Raindance on top of your smartphone until it is nothing but splinters,” Kingsnorth advises. “Raindance against the myths of the age. Raindance against the false gods. Raindance with a smile on your face.”
“What have you got to lose? Enter the Dreamtime. Begin the restoration. Become human again. Remain human despite it all. I think that might be what home looks like, in the end.”
It sounds like some good encouragement there.
