I believe that the fundamental alternative for man is the choice between “life” and “death”; between creativity and destructive violence; between reality and illusions; between objectivity and intolerance; between brotherhood-independence and dominance-submission.

—Erich Fromm, Credo (1965)

The last couple of posts have dealt with personal creeds or statements of beliefs. I very much admire the work of Erich Fromm, the psychologist/philosopher who lived from 1900 until 1980. The passage above is from his 1965 Credo which was published posthumously. I find it to be a very insightful piece that concerns itself with helping the individual find a place and purpose in this world. You can read the document in whole (or download a PDF) at Erich Fromm Online.

The passage above from Fromm’s Credo seemed very relevant to this moment in history. We have historically, as a species, been in constant conflict between choosing between light and darkness, those polar oppositions that Fromm delineates here. It feels like we have to a point where there is little gray area between the two poles. There is little, if any, middle ground as darkness has distilled into a potent force that can no longer be shrugged off. We, in this nation and abroad, are facing stark choices between light and darkness, or creativity and violence.

Yesterday was a step in the right direction and it feels as though people are finally recognizing the darkness that has threatened to engulf us for too long.

Hopefully, light can overcome the darkness.

I realize this is short on specifics this morning. I just wanted to share Fromm’s words with the hope it will resonate with you as well. His Credo ends with this summarizing point:

I believe in the possible realization of a world in which man can be much, even if he has little; a world in which the dominant motivation of existence is not consumption; a world in which “man” is the end, first and last; a world in which man can find the way of giving a purpose to his life as well as the strength to live free and without illusions.

Sounds good to me.

For this Sunday Morning Music, let’s go with a song that I played here a couple of years back. It’s Takuya Kuroda and his rendition of Roy Ayers’ Everybody Loves the Sunshine. This has been a favorite of mine since I stumbled across it a few years back and always sets me back on course when I feel out of rhythm.

And that’s a good thing…