The Four Idols

One term for it is attachment i.e. those things that you choose to be the object of your attention, of what you worship. If it's to money and things, you will never have enough. If it's to body and beauty and sexual allure, you will die a million deaths as you age. If it's to power, you will feel weak and afraid. If it's to intellect, you will end up feeling a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

We’d previously discussed the foregoing through the lens of that well-known commencement address by David Foster Wallace in terms of the way the things we worship create our own Sisyphean existence in which we are eaten alive MM 8/27/18 Get Over Thyself.

Or, framed more as a theological meditation, we might share in the observations of that 13th-century Italian priest and philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas who spoke of the four idols – financial wealth, power, pleasure, and fame – in terms of the way their pursuit ultimately deprive us from achieving ultimate spiritual enlightenment (or, God).

So, however viewed, we are left to ask what are the strategies to help us break free from this endless chase of the four idols? The first, of course, is the cultivation of self-awareness i.e. reflect on those motivations and desires that influence our decisions in the way they define our sense of self worth. Then, in no particular order: practice detachment; pursue higher goals; engage in spiritual practices; and focus on accountability and community (click here for helpful details: The Curiosity Chronicle).

In short, invoke the very things your club was designed to offer.

Let us ponder and share our own respective idols. There is no time like the present as we ask What If This Is It?

Please note the following RSVP Policy for Member Monday: RSVP sign-up opens up at 11:00am on Fridays via the City Club weekly Newsletter. Seats are first-come, first-served: the first 14 secure a spot at the table, the last 3 on the couch. Cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance or the standard Social Lunch rate applies.