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Living the full life

May 23, 2012 Editorial

Philip Moore did not receive a state funeral, but his life was a most profound statement to all of us on how to live a full life. Torn from societies that believed otherwise, we have been indoctrinated with the idea that the individual is the sole source of meaning. Philip Moore, in what has to be either proof of reincarnation or of the soul’s innate capacity to connect with deeper forces in the universe, reminded  us that we are not only connected to each other on earth, but to those that have departed.
The question that the life of Mr. Moore poses is now that the bonds between us and others, which once held together families, communities, and societies, have become attenuated, how can we make those reconnections to live a more complete life? The first answer is that to accept we are solitary selves in a selfish quest for purely personal fulfilment must surely be wrong.
A life spent pursuing the satisfaction of desire is less than satisfying and can never actually provide all we desire. Mr. Moore’s life demonstrates that there is such a thing as ethics, and it belongs to the life we live together and the goods we share—the goods that only exist in virtue of being shared. Mr. Moore created art not for money. Surely he needed money – he started to work in the canefields. But he was willing to push his art loaded on a donkey cart all over the Corentyne, just to share with others what he had: his vision of the unity of man in this world and the next.
Philip Moore harkened to a most distinctive and challenging ancient African and biblical notion: the ethics of responsibility, the idea that God invites us to become His “partners in the work of creation.” The God who created the world in love calls on us to create in love. The God who gave us the gift of freedom asks us to use it to honour and enhance the freedom of others. Life is God’s call to responsibility.
When we are gone, as Mr. Moore is now, what will people say of us? That we drove a big car or had a big house? Mr. Moore evidently had neither, but he is universally praised. People talk about whether the deceased had been a supportive husband or wife, a loving parent, a loyal friend. They speak about the good they had done to others, often quietly, discreetly, without ostentation. When you needed them, they were there. They shouldered their responsibilities to the community. They gave to charitable causes, and if they could not give money, they gave time. Those most mourned and missed were not the most successful, rich, or famous. They were the people who enhanced the lives of others. These were the people who were loved.
Mr. Moore offered more specific guidance through his life. Happiness, as opposed to pleasure, is a matter of a life well lived, one that honours the important, not just the urgent. Several studies have shown that the best predictor of happiness is the sense that you have a purpose in life. Those who hold strong spiritual beliefs are typically satisfied with life, while those who have no spiritual beliefs are typically unsatisfied. Mr. Moore was most spiritual.
Happiness is the ability to say: I lived for certain values and acted on them. I was part of a family, embracing it and being embraced by it. I was part of a community, honouring its traditions, sharing its griefs and joys, ready to help others, knowing that they were ready to help me. I did not only ask what I could take; I asked what I could contribute. To know that you made a difference, that you lifted someone’s spirits, or brought to the world a moment of grace or recognition that would not have happened had it not been for you—these are as close as we get to the meaningfulness of a life. And Philip Moore lived such a life.

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