divinity
Living Catholic
- Rob McCann, Executive Director
One of the meanings of the word catholic is “including or concerning all humankind; universal.” That’s one of the things I like about being Catholic. I appreciate the way I was brought up to believe that all humans contain a spark of divinity, and that it is my privilege and obligation to nurture that spark in whoever crosses my path. I’m not saying I always do it; but it’s the ideal I was taught, the ideal I believe in, the one that, when I’m at my best, guides my actions. It’s one of the guiding principles behind our work at Catholic Charities, which is one of many reasons I love being here.
Goethe said, “If you treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” It’s an interesting notion. Do you think people rise to the expectations we hold for them? If you treat a person as if he’s better than your experience might indicate, does that very treatment change the dynamic in a way that gives him more room to grow? If indeed we do each have a spark of divinity within us, it only makes sense to respond to that spark, to treat it as if it’s an incipient flame. Who knows what fire might begin blazing?