money dreamin

This morning I engaged in a little flight of fantasy, one with which I suspect we all engage from time to time... what would I do if I had a million dollars? I won't bore you with the details of my 'spendings' because soon after I picked up my book that I am currently reading...

It is called 'How the Irish saved civilisation' by Thomas Cahill, and it details the downfall of the Roman Empire and the way that Patrick took Christianity to Ireland, where it took powerful hold along with Roman literacy, leading to the monasteries, where the work of copying the books of Western Europe subsequently happened.

And so when the barbarians invaded and the Roman Empire fell, and its books were destroyed or left to ruin, a little bank of knowledge, both Christian and Classical, was kept safe in the northwest.

It's a fascinating read, and what has gripped me about it today is the growing realisation that the Romans believed that their way of life was unassailable: they assumed that the social organisation they employed, the comforts they enjoyed could never disappear.

And the implication is clear, that we who rely so heavily on money and financial systems for our power structures and comforts could be taken out as easily, unsuspecting, from behind. Our way of life could actually disappear. It's all the more likely because we can't imagine how it might possibly happen!

So even if I do while away a part of my day imagining what good things I could do with my imaginary million, I hope I can also spend some part of it dreaming about what I can do with the very real gifts in my life: friendship, communication, work, love...