The bare minimum

Today we talk about not an uncommon nature of man. In my school days, we had an organization that visited our school to garner funds for their NGO. They gave out forms for all students and we had to go, usually, door-to-door to collect money. This was a huge hit in the Nineties. Seventy-Five rupees was the minimum to earn a certificate and there were other rewards for those who surpassed 1000 and above. I never knew what those rewards were simply because I never ever reached there. I do not know who reached there as I was surrounded by hundred others who were content with the certificate.

There is a danger to interpret the notion I am slowly trying to form as a ‘lack of pursuit of excellence’. I am trying to elucidate a behaviour not a lack thereof. If I was trying to talk about a pursuit that man has none of, I am trying to talk about something wanting. No, I will stick to what man does not what he does not or cannot.

The behaviour of Man (that you may observe in yourself as I observe in myself) is that of the ‘bare minimum’. His will is not inclined to goodness but rather to ‘not being called an evil person’ To explain, it is like a banker whose only objective ought to be to maximize his money but according to bare minimum, the banker would only strive to avoid going bankrupt. His motto isn’t ‘how can I maximize profits’ rather it is ‘how can I surely not become bankrupt’

You will observe this ubiquituous phenomenon whenever there are choices to be made between good and evil. Man, in such a case doesn’t really will to do good but he is conscious that he ought to choose good for he tries never to be deemed ‘evil’. He continues his life satifsying the bare minimum. He doesn’t wish to dress with modesty or chastity. No, he doesn’t choose that but he asks questions such as: what bare minimum requires to be fulfilled in order that these clothes are not called obscene?. What minimum can I contribute in a fundraiser or to a beggar or in Church inorder that I am not called a miser?

Our hearts don’t will for virtue but only to satisfy the bare minimum in order to not be called sinners or defilers. A woman may hope that her outfit is not obscene. Deep inside, she has an inkling she may have crossed the line which means she will feel immensely peaceful if she has just made it within the line. She will not choose chastity through her outfit rather stay within ‘limits’ to not qualify as ‘obscenity’.

We don’t choose to vie for goodness.we are happy doing just enough to not be called a sinner. Such a ‘pursuit’ (I switch now from behaviour to the why the behaviour is allowed) is the virtueless waste. For it chooses to value the fear of turning into a sinner than choosing the joy and prudence of being a saint. An excellent student who returns home from school everyday oblivious to the distress of his fellow students at their inability could guiltlessly say, “Well, I have not disturbed, distracted, hidden or misled them in any way in order to be evil” Yes, but they need help and you haven’t done anything noble either.

It reminds me of this Catholic Prayer:

I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters that I have sinned through my own faults, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do…

So perhaps you, a product of the ‘bare minimum’, of the virtueless waste think, what I have done? Nothing at all, I stayed within limits, what do I have to confess? And then meditate on what you have failed to do...Often, that is all the difference between a sinner and a saint.