The Pitfalls of a "Safe" Culture

 Of recent it has become common usage to greet others in departure by saying “Be Safe”. It is a catch-all. On the one hand it is supposed to express the need to wear a mask and on the other somehow prevent one from being caught up in a mass shooting.

The definition of “Safe” or “Safety” have been around for all age. A mule will never perjure its safety by going over a cliff whereas a horse can be trained to bear on and tumble to its death. As human beings the “safety principle” is one of survival. It is primal as it is human. We seek safety and refuge in all our surroundings yet we can will ourselves to barrel over a cliff. It is akin to the “pleasure principle” once highly regarded in philosophical and ethical circles. COVID-19 has laid the latter principle naught. The “safety principle” continues on. That said, safety is not everything that has made human beings human. The primal need to keep one and ones own safe are necessary but so too is the need to go outside of ones “comfort”, or should I say “safety” zone. Equally human is the need to take risks. Some of the earliest literature speaks on that need.

“Go into the Deep and put your nets out for a catch.” (Luke 5:4).

Yet there is pushback and it is primordial, “But, Lord, we have toiled all night and have caught nothing”.

Man is conditionally risk averse yet for Man to reach his intended End He must take risks.

365 times in the Sacred Scriptures the words “Be not Afraid” appear. It seems that Man is also in need of a push, a prod, a goading onward. Man by himself cannot find the impetus or the energy to bear on over the cliff and into the unknown below, or perhaps above.

Man is indeed a Safety-driven and Survival-driven being. He is also a risk-driven being in need of courage or fortitude. The Cardinal virtues include both Fortitude as well as Prudence and with it Temperance or moderation. In fact the most complex of the Cardinal Virtues is Justice. The three last Cardinal Virtues require measure, moderation, delay, reserve and thoughtfulness. Man needs “to be still and know” (cf. Ps 46:10) God is God. That stillness is necessary but it is equally as necessary as “going into the deep” and “not being afraid”.

“Daughter, take courage, your Faith has saved you!” (Mt 9:22)

Today the general maxim and the overarching one is “Be Safe” not “Take Courage”! Perhaps the "Be Safe" maxim is in the Order of the Day as many many have lost their lives to COVID-19 and surely many, unnecessarily. That said, we ought not as a culture push aside, that very virtue that allows us to push to the limits and reach for the stars. Ad Astra aspera (To the Stars despite the hardships) Ad Altiora tendo (I strive for the Higher Things).

Perhaps, Today, Easter of 2021, rather than repeating the unspecific maxim, “Be Safe” we can utter a specific one, namely “Be not Afraid!”

Χριστός Ανέστη!

Aληθώς ανέστη!

Christus Surrexit!

Surrexit vere, Alleluia!

Christ has Risen!

He is truly Risen, Alleluia!