Ron Gauthier recently retired from corporate life after roughly 50 years in the agribusiness field. Born and raised in Montreal, his career took him to the Greater Toronto area in 1984. He graduated with a Bachelor in Agricultural Sciences and Diploma in Management from McGill University. He is presently finishing a Master of Theological Studies degree at Regis College, with focus on eco-theology and Ignatian spirituality. Ron is a 4th-degree Knight of Columbus, an RCIA Leader at Mary Mother of God Parish, Oakville; a STIR (Spiritual Transformation in Recovery) Toronto Retreat Leader; and a member of the Board of Governors of Catholic Mission of Canada. Ron is happily married to his sweetheart of 38 years, Chantal, and they have been blessed with three great sons, two beautiful daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.
A few weeks ago I awoke suddenly from a vivid dream or perhaps I was in a light sleep going through subconsciously some thoughts. The next morning, I tried to put the details, the thoughts, and the emotions onto paper. This was not the first time in recent months that I have experienced this same unsettling feeling. The feelings have been visiting me for months now, but that night they crystallized
Carl Jung became known for taking dreams seriously, seeing them as messages from the unconscious that reveal deeper truths about the human condition. Inspired by that insight, I have decided to pay closer attention to what has been haunting me.
Before going to bed, I listened to the State of the Union address. Perhaps that was not the best choice before sleep—or perhaps it was exactly what stirred what was already within me. It awakened the growing conviction I have been carrying that humankind, (in general), despite its technological sophistication and scientific achievements, often remains profoundly childish. We send satellites into space but struggle to listen deeply to one another. We accumulate data but lack wisdom.
How narcissistic and ego-driven we can be. The recent address was a prime example of how readily we prefer listening to ourselves rather than sitting in silence and truly hearing others. We boast like children in a schoolyard: “My father is better than yours,” “My toy is bigger than yours.” Have we really matured beyond that stage?
We, our leaders, are in their 60s, 70s, even 80s—yet have we reached a deeper adult consciousness? It often seems not. The playground mentally persists: “My country is greater than yours,” “My economy is stronger,” “My weapons are bigger”. The language may be more polished than in childhood, but isn’t the psychological posture familiar? Beneath the suits and regalia, one sometimes hears echoes of schoolyard boasting: “My toy is better than yours.”
And it is not only leaders. It is all of us. The narcissism of our age is not confined to politics. It finds itself into social media, consumer culture, even clerical religious life. We speak more than we listen. We develop a certain brand of ourselves. Silence, humility and deep receptivity are increasingly rare virtues.
One does not have to look far to see how childish humanity can be. If we dared to look honestly in the mirror, with full consciousness, we might discover uncomfortable truths. Leaders who cannot stop boasting about “me, myself, and I.” Wars that destroy lives and ecosystems yet accomplish little of lasting value. From an ecological perspective, forests fall, waters are poisoned, climate systems are destabilized. We continue extracting natural resources primarily for profit and short-term gain, disregarding the sacredness of the land and the rights of Indigenous peoples across the globe. We act recklessly. We behave like children who have discovered a treasure chest but have no idea of what responsibility is.
Power, money, and sex, these seem to be the dominant collective attractions of our age when you read the news these days.
And so, in my dreams, I see “unconscious child-like people” running and tearing apart the world entrusted to us. It is not merely political frustration. It is a spiritual unease. We believe we are conscious, enlightened, advanced—yet our collective behavior often resembles that of children fighting over toys. Perhaps this is what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin meant when he spoke of humanity evolving through immaturity, struggle, and even atrocity toward greater consciousness—toward the Omega Point. Growth, in his vision, is not linear or gentle. It may pass through darkness before awakening.
Spiritual maturity requires self-awareness. It requires the courage to look in the mirror and see not only the faults of leaders or institutions but the same tendencies within us: the desire to dominate, to be admired, to win at all costs. Jung spoke of the “shadow”, the parts of ourselves as human beings, the part of ourselves as society, we prefer not to acknowledge.
The ecological crisis may be at its core, a crisis of consciousness. The wars that rage across continents may be symptoms of collective ego. The bragging style of political power may reveal insecurity. And yet I do not wake up with only frustration and despair. There is also, deep inside many an intuition that awareness itself is a sign of growth. To recognize immaturity is already stepping beyond it. For some they have no clue. Or if they do have a clue, they aren’t willing to make the sacrifice and grow up!
If that is so, perhaps these dreams are invitations, calls for deeper consciousness to grow spiritually, to move from ego to communion with the whole Earth, including our neighbors within humankind. A warning to grow up.
Don’t get me wrong, we would be naïve to think that we could change the present status of the whole world and its leaders in a split second. Chaos has always been part of this whole unstable world since the beginning of creation and will continue to be unstable.
And perhaps the first step is not condemning the childishness “out there”, but while being patient, recognizing and transforming it within us.
Teilhard, said it the best, in his evolution prayer ‘Patient Trust’:
Above all, trust in the slow work of God
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay
We sometimes like to skip the intermediate stages
We are impatient to be on the way to something unknown, something new.
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