God’s Implanted DNA: A Journey to Deep Happiness and Health
By Don Johnson (Trafford Publishing, 2012)
Don Johnson’s book centers on the argument that God has implanted in every one of us a deep-seated urge to happiness that can be realized only through serving others. He calls it “God’s implanted DNA.” Life’s fullness can be enjoyed only in relatedness at different levels—the interpersonal, familial, social, and, finally, to the larger universe. Despite our weaknesses and failures, we still can realize this urge. He demonstrates this from his personal experience as well as those of famous people who have found out the divine DNA in them by offering themselves in the service of others. “Real deep happiness is grounded in serving others with all our energy.” His own choice to become a religious minister was the result of a search for purpose in life. As a pastor in his first parish, he overcame his initial disappointment with parishioners’ indifference, when he understood that his attitude was the problem. When he began to connect personally with the people, things changed and he began to enjoy his work. During our early life we depend on others around us, usually the immediate family. In adulthood, relationships should spread outward in order to make life truly meaningful. Many people, like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Schweitzer, Dag Hammarskjold, and others discovered their divine DNA through conscious choice to serve others. Constant attention to our inner life helps us understand why we are created; it is to serve others. This offer changes the giver more than the receiver. Seventy-year-old Kay Oursler’s example is inspiring. Kay suffered depression when her husband of forty years divorced her. To the amazement of others, she overcame her sense of worthlessness by enrolling in the Peace Corps and volunteering in Africa. Jacqueline Novograntz, an American business woman, ended up working on non-profit organizations for the poor in South Asia. The late Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy, the founder of Aravind Eye Hospital, is yet another shining example. In an interview, he reflected: “for me God exists in that place where all living things are interconnected and we know it when we feel divine.” He felt that “tough determination and our sense of interconnectedness is the way to heal our world.” The practical way of discovering our implanted DNA is to take the model of Christ, who prayed; “not my will, but your will be done.” In contemplative life, whether we read the Bible or a newspaper report, we can ask: “What is God saying to me through this?” Caring for others is not different from caring for oneself; on the contrary it is an intensification of self-care. In the public domain (corporate life or banking), instead of asking, “What I can get out of it?” we should ask what we can give.
The Plague
By Albert Camus (1947)
Considered one of the greatest European novels of the last century; The Plague has recently been talked about. It presents a social upheaval and implications during an epidemic. It raises questions of God and nature, unmerited human suffering, separation and death. In the laid back town of Oran, Algeria, life is thrown out of gear when plague strikes—out of nowhere. It rages for a year. The first sign of plague outbreak is noticed by Dr Rieux, who finds it difficult to convince the authorities, who are slow to respond. Initially there is indifference and complacency; then incredulity and finally panic, as the epidemic rages. When quarantine is declared, the town becomes a virtual prison. The plague symbolizes human suffering, an irrational evil force that kills indiscriminately. In the midst of the cataclysm there are people like Dr Rieux, Paneloux, a Jesuit theologian and Jean Tarrou, a journalist and novelist, who teamed up against the plague. The interactions of these three highlight the key ideas. Contrasting philosophical responses to the experience are expressed. The agnostic Dr Rieux does not think of himself as a hero or a saint, but is committed to saving life. Fr Paneloux organizes a prayer week, and speaks of the calamity as a deserved punishment for the sinful city, a scourge to humble the proud, though the long-suffering compassionate God did not will it. The plague happens because God’s light is withdrawn. But God’s compassion brings forth good from evil. Dr Rieux disagrees with such an abstract approach and questions the irrationality of the universe. He thinks that if he believed in an all-powerful God, he would cease curing the sick and leave that to Him. Not denying God’s existence, he is troubled by His “silence” and “absence.” Jean Tarrou, instead, believes in humanity but not in a merciful God, and wonders if it is possible to be a saint without God. A change occurs when they witness the agonizing death of a child. Paneloux’s faith is troubled when his prayer fails. All he can say is that “perhaps we should love what we cannot understand.” Dr Rieux tells him that he can never love a scheme of things that allows innocents suffering. It is revolting. However, the two realize that they are united in the cause of saving lives “beyond blasphemy and prayers…the only thing that matters.” Paneloux understands that suffering cannot be interpreted except in the sense that it is of absolute good and part of God’s will. There is no middle path between belief and unbelief. In his second sermon Paneloux does not speak of punishment but about loving acceptance of suffering which is beyond rational explanation. He completely identifies with the victims in suffering and dies of mysterious causes. Though the plague disappears after a year, it is possible that it may appear again somewhere. The Plague demonstrates that, despite contradictory beliefs, the believer and the unbeliever are united in the same cause –the assertion of human dignity, freedom and responsibility.
Prof Gigy Joseph
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