WHAT MATTERS?
By Frances Harris
Philosophers and scholars have been trying to define the question
of WHAT MATTERS? Since records began.
Even as Homo erectus left the plains
of Africa and fanned out over the globe, their cave drawing and carvings revealed
a yearning to define a greater purpose or add meaning to their existence. I too have been searching for this very same thing. It’s not with
any urgency or panic, but as a steady inner need to make sense of this complex
existence, with all the good the bad and reasoning that goes with it.
The one enduring theme that stands out like a beacon of history is
that we humans will invent another more pleasing self-serving reality if we don’t
like the one we are in, then we live in it and defend it, sometimes to the death. There
is nothing more apparent than the stories handed down to populations just before
a leader plans to take their country to war. One classic example is the story
of World War one. The German leaders told their innocent public that the French
were coming to overrun their country. Unfortunately the French citizens had
been left out of the loop. When they saw the military escalation in Germany they
concluded the Germans must be coming to take them over.
So the honest German’s dropped everything to enlist in the armed
forces and went off to ward off the French invaders, and the French armed
themselves to do the same. Near the end the Germans realised they had been
duped, so refused to kill any more Frenchmen and wanted to go back to their
families. Eventually it all came to a very sticky end. What mattered then? Well
I suppose we have to look at from whose perspective we should follow. From the
leaders; their agenda was obvious. From the perspective of the populations; defending
their territory and way of life is what mattered above all else. Doesn’t that
story sound familiar?
The first time I became aware that things didn’t
add up, is when I was an eight year old learning Australian history at primary
school. Our teachers read to us that Captain James Cook discovered an
uninhabited Australia in the good ship Endeavour.
Because he and his crew were the first to set foot on this land and the flag
was raised, it was claimed for the English. This neat package led to the settling of the New
South Wales colony in 1788, and was an ideal place to offload the burgeoning
number sof poor people, convicts and undesirables who were growing in numbers
back in England.
I wanted to know about the little matter of the local inhabiting
aboriginals, but this was quickly dismissed and we were told ownership of the country was proclaimed. English scientists
and scholars at the time had been fiercely debating whether aboriginals were in fact human,
which served the interests of the English establishment. Aboriginal
remains were shipped over to the mother country in an attempt to get the
evidence.
Statue of Captain James Cook - St Kilda Beach.
Even thought so much about we humans is apparent I was still not
satisfied I had found what really matters. Perhaps the only way to reveal the
answers was to look at the world through fresh eyes. I went back to many
of places that have been my reality at different stages of my life. Those experiences are vivid in my memory still.
The place where we lived with my grandparents’ house in Brighton is gone. A new
house, with all its history is unfolding right now on that spot, just as it did
when we were there. One day that will be gone, and soon. All I could think that mattered was - the thoughts I took away from it,
and little else.
I went back to the family
home where my husband and family lived, with all of its vivid events, so intense
at the time are now all gone. The new two story building stands in the place of
our once suburban home. All that is left are my memories and what I took away
from them. I thought after these journeys I would have a better insight into what matters, but had become more
puzzled than ever. It’s like making a big splash in a pool of water, just to
turn around and find it’s now clear and still.
I walked in many places and searched and found a few historical
monuments that told me interesting stories. With my detective mind, I thought I was on to something useful. Around the city of Melbourne,
Australia in out of the way places are statues and busts of people
who mattered around the end of the 18th century. One, Tommy Bent, a
wealthy property developer still towers of the Nepean Highway, Brighton. He was
a very portly man and all I could think of, was he had such a huge midriff; he
was in line for a heart attack. Perhaps that’s not what people of the 18th
and 19th century had seen as what matters. He was a revered figure
in his time, a politician and man of note. He lived to the age of 65 years. Not surprising, I thought.
As an afterthought, a small bust of his wife was placed well away
from his monument, by his daughter. The divisions and importance of men and
women of the times was very apparent. Another bust of a man said he was - A good colonist, another was revered as – A good public servant. Churches were built to tower above the
populations and huge amounts of money ensured they would endure way after all
of the other buildings crumble. Religion was clearly what mattered to people’s in the those early
years.
Statue of Tommy Bent - Brighton
Carlo Satani - A good public servant
A small tribute to Tommy Bent's wife.
Still no wiser, I asked myself what is it that endures well after
the buildings, politics and people have gone? Then a light bulb lit up in my
brain - the experiences and the important qualities we pass on to others is
what matters. I think about the integrity and priorities of my grandparents,
parents, uncles and aunts and how they have been passed on. I look at the good
people of history and the wonderful works and philosophies and freedoms they
have given future generations to enjoy. One in particular is Dr Fred Hollows
and the people’s lives he transformed by saving their sight. Imagine how his
work improved the generations that followed on after him. Yes, your deity, love, kindness, the
willingness to share, generosity and the nurturing of our families and complete
strangers, and lessons we have learned - is - WHAT
MATTERS!
