The Power of an Open Eye. A Motivation.

A few years ago I stumbled across a story that I currently have to think about again and again. It comes from the Bible, and that is remarkable in that, as an atheist, I usually barely come into contact with it and yet I am very inspired by it.

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It is the story of Emmaus, and it is quickly told. Two disciples are on their way to Emmaus near Jerusalem shortly after the death of Jesus Christ when a stranger joins them. When asked why they were so sad, they talk about the evil that happened to Jesus. All attempts by the stranger to offer them an explanation for this go unheard by the two of them due to sheer lamentations. As they sit together at the table in the evening and the stranger breaks bread, the two become aware that this stranger is Jesus Christ himself — and that they have not recognized this all along because of all the lamenting.

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The problem: A lack of European identity

That is exactly what the debate in Europe over the last few days seems to me: We are lamenting about the unjust, the unexpected, the bad things that are currently happening to Europe. Like the two disciples in the Bible, we are so preoccupied with regret — in our case self-pity — that we don't see what is actually significant. Why don't we look at what we have in our hands, namely our own behavior? Why are we outraged by something that we can't change anyway? For whose situation we also bear great responsibility, above all for our European defense capabilities? From what do we derive the right, the expectation, the claim, whatever, that any other country will assume this responsibility for us? Almost free of charge?

Where, please, is our personal responsibility here? Where is our self-image as Europe? No one is responsible for us but ourselves. And self-pity is not adult behavior. If we don't clearly define ourselves and act accordingly, how can we expect others to even see us and take us seriously?

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I am aware that there are possible explanations for some of these deliberately pointed questions. I still present them in this form — not viciously, but out of love for Europe! So we can really get to the bottom of things. Lamentation doesn't help us here any more than it does the disciples at Emmaus — it just prevents us from having a clear view of reality. As Steve Jobs once said about his own unpleasant experience: “It was a very bitter pill, but I think the patient needed it.” In our case, this bitter pill is the admission that we do not yet have a clear self-image of ourselves — but we need this in order to be globally relevant. And we must, if we don't want to get under the wheel, with our prosperity, our freedom and our peace.

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The challenge of individualism

On the way there, we unfortunately face another lamentable challenge: our understanding of society with the primacy of individualism. Yes, it is part of our focus on freedom, and this is clearly a key achievement. It is part of our prosperity — and that in turn for peace. That is what makes this primate so seductive and self-reinforcing.

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But as economists say, “There is no free lunch” — there is always a prize. In particular, in a society focused on individualism, this is a tendency of individuals to retreat into the private and personal. The associated increase in prosperity proved us right at first. And it would be great if it continued like this.

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Unfortunately, over the course of the journey, this individualism has also trained us a bit to think and treat society as what it is: togetherness — with all its efforts, inconveniences and the associated responsibility! With Hermann Hesse: “As soon as we are at home in a circle of life and are confidently accustomed to it, there is a risk of sagging.”

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Here too, the tendency to lament is once again spreading. Everything likes to be bad — and it just keeps getting worse anyway. Yes, and it's the fault — it's the others, of course! The complainants like to overlook the fact that each and every one of us is also and above all a citizen — and therefore part of the whole. And this is how we make ourselves comfortable in the consumer attitude towards the socio-political responsibility that actually belongs to all of us. And this also includes the simple fact that we ourselves could get involved in politics and do better if we don't like what “they are doing”. Complaining is simply easier than (laboriously) engaging yourself.

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Perhaps this is how all the victim feelings and behavior can be explained psychologically. And it is quite possible that all of this is also rational from an individual point of view. But unfortunately, from a social point of view, it is not. It is simply irrational here because it is counterproductive. Because as a society, we're all in the same boat. And when that gets into trouble or even capsizes, it affects us all.

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“My house, my car, my boat” (the older people among us in Germany remember) will no longer work from now on. If we want to continue living in peace and prosperity, we must understand this now at the latest. Otherwise, that's it for our democracy and freedom in the face of current external threats. I say this as someone who grew up for the first 17 years of his life in that part of Germany where neither existed — and who certainly doesn't want to experience that again. And I'm pretty sure: The very few of you who once lived in freedom.

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A European Emmaus moment

But perhaps, and that is my hope, this is now our European Emmaus moment of breaking bread: The one in which we recognize that precisely in the new world political reality that is happening to us right now lies not disaster but hope and goodness! A catharsis, as our Greek friends would say: a cleansing and cleansing, the moment to reverse negative affects, relieve the soul and set off for new shores!

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Specifically: Coming together as Europe in the face of external threats and standing together to develop what we have in common. Because as a European society, we too are in the same boat. Capsizing is not an option. That is why “all hands on deck” applies: Now we are all asked, each and everyone about their or their options.

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The good news is that the people of Europe have been proving over and over again for centuries that they can recognize and overcome outdated conditions and their risks and transform them into a new dynamic. No continent has as much experience and expertise in this area as we do. Let us trust this, let us trust ourselves by not lamenting but opening ourselves up to new challenges!

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The great thing about it: The positive feeling that will result from such cooperation and overcoming this challenge will give us European self-confidence and self-effectiveness that will take us much further than we can now imagine! Let's go!

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P.S. There is magic in every beginning

Hermann Hesse wrote his famous poem in 1941 as an encouragement during the Second World War. May this be an inspiration for us and the next stage of Europe:

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How every flower wilts and every youth

Every stage of life gives way to old age,

Does every wisdom and every virtue flourish

In their time and must not last forever.

It must the heart with every call of life

Be ready to say goodbye and make new beginnings

For yourself in courage and without grief

In others, to give new ties.

And there is magic in every beginning

Who protects us and helps us live.

We should cheerfully walk through room by room

Dependent on no one like on a homeland

The spirit of the world does not want to tie us down and confine us

He wants to raise us step by step, expand us.

No sooner are we at home in a circle of life

And confidently settled in, there is a risk of sagging,

Only those who are ready to set off and travel

May escape crippling habituation.

It may also be the hour of death

Sending us new spaces young,

Life's call to us will never end...

Well then, heart, say goodbye and be healthy!