External Goods

one

The will and external goods

The human will, the faculty that knowingly chooses, is designed to pursue the good. Which means you can’t understand the will unless you understand how it relates to the different kinds of good out there.

Now the will’s purpose is to seek to perfect the whole human person by attaining the flourishing of Body and Soul. The will seeks the fulfillment of body and mind; but we know that complete fulfillment, the perfection of the human person, will only be reached when we reach God Himself in the next life. In the meantime, we pursue goods of the body and the soul here on earth in such a way that it can lead us to that Supreme, Divine Good, in Heaven.

In that case, how should we pursue created goods outside the human person?

Our economy is designed to give us external goods and services: educational opportunities, healthcare, real estate, food distribution and books and music and cars and transportation.

How do these external goods – these things which are not God, and not states of the body or soul – factor into the spiritual life? How should the will respond to these goods?

two

External goods willed for the sake of intrinsic goods

God is our ultimate goal, the only reality that can bring us total fulfillment and happiness. We’ve also said that goods of the body and soul, even in the temporary, limited way we can achieve them in this life – are also legitimate goals in their own right. We can and should pursue human perfections, as long as we don’t lose sight of God as the ultimate end.

So when it comes to external goods, here is the principle: go after external goods just insofar as you need them to do some good for body and soul. All external goods are just means, they aren’t ends in themselves. You don’t pursue them for their own sake. They don’t exist for their own sake.

The Church teaches that “Man is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.” (Gaudium et Spes, #24). Everything else, every tree or rock or house or dollar bill, exists to give glory to God and benefit the human person. We should work for them only to the extent that it will help those two goals.

three

The goal is human perfection

It’s amazing how often we try to get something, whether it’s a job, a possession, a promotion or a piece of furniture, and yet we never ask ourselves: Is this going to make me happier? Is this going to contribute to the perfection of my body or mind? Is this going to lead me closer to God? Because, if it isn’t, why on earth are you working so hard to get it? People will fantasize about getting a new house, or an addition, and they’ll sacrifice their peace of mind or financial stability to get it. Yet, if they just thought for a second, they’d realize that what they’re trying to get really won’t make much difference to their physical or psychological well-being.

As a matter of fact, any external good can only provide, AT BEST, the opportunity to develop your humanity or someone else’s; but the actual development itself depends on you.

For instance, you can get a weight set or a gym membership, but whether you actually improve your physical condition depends on whether you use it. You can buy a big house with a lot of land but whether it becomes a place where friends and family can gather to celebrate and find comfort in each other, well, that depends on how hospitable and welcoming and (let’s face it) how mellow you are about your stuff when people come over.

You can get a new job, with the opportunity to do a lot of good but whether that happens depends on whether or not you use your position to develop yourself by helping others or you just use it to make as much money and social standing as possible.

So the question isn’t just, “will this thing provide an opportunity to contribute to human goodness?” But also, “Am I committed to using this external good to contribute to human goodness?”

Because if the answer is no, then don’t go after it. There’s no point.

four

External goods often don’t contribute to happiness.

Not only do external goods often fail to contribute to human well-being and happiness but often enough, they actually detract from our happiness.

We get high-profile careers that make us miserable. We get big properties or fancy cars that we spend all our time worrying about and keeping up. We get our kids enrolled at fancy, prestigious schools that corrupt their minds and hearts instead of enlightening them. We make a lot of money and then think that’s all people value us for. We get a lot of followers on social media and then get anxious about maintaining our numbers. You know you’ve made an external thing an idol when instead of a path to holiness and happiness, it becomes an obstacle.

Again, the questions to ask are: Is this likely to be an occasion for my or someone else’s human flourishing? Is this thing likely to lead me to God, without whom I know I’ll never be happy? If the external good won’t contribute to human and divine goods, then it’s not good for you.

five

The Goods Least Under Your Control

External created goods are the goods that are least connected to your happiness. God is the most crucial good for your happiness. Limited perfections of the mind and body are the second most crucial. And as we’ve seen, external created goods like stuff and services aren’t necessarily connected to your happiness at all. In fact, sometimes they make you quite unhappy.

Plus, the goods which lie outside of you are often the least under your personal control: How much money you end up with, how much stuff, what kind of career and educational opportunities are available. Most of the time this sort of thing depends more on happening to be in the right place at the right time.

At the end of the day, what you can control is what happens inside your own skin: How much you’re willing to discipline your mind, cultivate virtue, how you eat and how often you exercise. Most importantly, whether you’re praying to the Lord, going to the sacraments, following the Church’s moral teachings.

This is what you can control, and this is what determines how happy you’ll be down here, and in the next life.

So don’t make an idol out of any external created good. You can pursue them, but pursue them with detachment, and don’t worry if circumstances beyond your control take them out of your reach. God has put your happiness in your hands. And it’s not found in amassing external created goods.