Sense and sensibility.

Another summer is behind us, and a full summer it was. Alberta and Saskatchewan marked 100 years in Confederation (the way Canada is going, perhaps we should have lamented the centenary). In addition to several centennial celebrations, we also attended a couple of weddings. One of these was in Swift Current, SK, where Dan and I spent the first twelve years of our married life. It was good to go back, visit old friends, and tour around town to observe the changes. One of the first we noticed was that the city has a new motto, which is emblazoned on a large granite sign on the outskirts of town: "Welcome to Swift Current--where life makes sense."

Apparently, a couple of years ago, the city thought it needed a new image and hired a consulting firm to conceive a catchy slogan. Whatever they paid, it was probably too much. The adoption of such an inane motto is possibly indicative that the good folks at City Hall might be somewhat lacking in the virtue by which they wish their city to be known. This is because, when all is said and done, life in Swift Current doesn't make any more sense than it does anywhere else.

Having lived there for a dozen years, I know that Swift Current (like any other comparable Canadian city) has its share of illness, injury, death, excessive taxation, drug and alcohol abuse, school-yard bullying, lying, cheating, stealing, violence, adultery, fornication, infidelity, divorce, abortion, heartbreak, sorrow, and (now) government-mandated access to same-sex "marriage." None of these things makes any sense, the last least of all.

What the slogan means, perhaps, is that Swift Current is a nice place to live, which it is. And that for most of the people, most of the time, life feels good. But that's not sense; it's sensibility. (However, "Welcome to Swift Current--where we embrace sensibility" would only confuse people and perhaps cause motor vehicle accidents. So it's probably best that things stay as they are.)

However, I wish to cast no aspersions on Swift Current and/or its citizenry. Some of our dearest friends live there, and I would move back tomorrow. Their slogan was simply a convenient launching point for a columnist short on both ideas and time. I shall continue with Jane Austen, who is not likely to send me any negative reader mail.

Sense and Sensibility is a novel about two sisters: Elinor, who uses her head, and Marianne, who is governed by her heart. Elinor tries to live by duty, honour, and self-control. She experiences disappointment, but suffers nobly and is rewarded with a happy ending. Marianne indulges in the nineteenth-century polite-society version of "if it feels good, do it." She suffers heartbreak and humiliation, and nearly dies because of her indiscretion and excessive sentimentality. She comes to realize that she might have avoided much sorrow (and coped more ably with her sufferings) had she modeled her conduct on that of her older and wiser sister. Having learned that lesson, she too finds happiness in the end. As Miss Austen illustrates, allowing ourselves to be ruled by our sensibilities often results in situations that don't seem to make sense. Consequences may be logical (fornication frequently results in pregnancy or an STD), but post-modern thinkers can make no sense of this. Suffering, to judge by contemporary sensibilities, is completely senseless.

Indeed, if you have no idea of a greater purpose, life makes very little sense. Death and taxes are inevitable, rain falls on the good and the evil alike. Bad things happen to good people.

As it turns out, life doesn't make sense; sense makes life. And good sense, in my opinion, involves having faith--specifically, faith in something (the Church) and someone (Jesus Christ). It is only through the cross and resurrection that suffering makes sense. Jesus' example and His grace allow us to triumph over adversity. It is only the infallible teaching of His Church which answers man's eternal quest for meaning.

There are many senseless things happening in our country, thanks to decades of following our own foolish sensibilities, and the equally foolish whims of our judges, politicians, professors, and even some of our clergy. Politically, I don't know what will bring Canada back to its senses. As for prayer and evangelization, we have our work cut out for us. We can't all move to Swift Current.

Mariette Ulrich is a mother and a homemaker. She writes from Scott, Saskatchewan, where she lives with her husband, Dan and seven daughters.