Why is there so much division in our culture? If you ask the Rev. David Cregan, O.S.A., Ph.D., he’ll say it’s due to our current relationship with words.
Fr. Cregan, vice chair of Merrimack College’s Board of Trustees and associate dean of academic affairs and strategic initiatives for Villanova University’s College of Professional Studies, was selected this year to deliver Merrimack’s Augustinian of Note address to students in Austin Scholars.
The Augustinian of Note speaker series aims to introduce the Merrimack community to the reach of the Order of St. Augustine while showcasing to Augustinian leaders how the Order’s mission and values are being lived out by Merrimack students.
Fr. Cregan started his talk, which took place on Feb. 26 in the Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher, by illustrating what it means to live in our current postmodern era.
“The times that we’re living in are filled with words,” he said. “In my mind, the preoccupation with thinking is more about ourselves. We tend to be a self-centered generation. We’re adept at this epistemology of learning all about our minds and thinking.”
Instead, Fr. Cregan said he wanted to shift the crowd’s focus to the pedagogy of Augustinianism. The first pillar, he explained, was learning through meaningful experiences.
“Words categorize us in ways that we’re either this or that, right or wrong, black or white,” he explained. “We’re expected to conform ourselves in relationships to, ‘Which are you?’ We live in a world where people can create their own reality, or say things are true when they are absolutely not.”
Alternatively, Fr. Cregan advised students to base their views around lived experiences rather than rigid opinions set by others.
“How often do we actually look at the world?” he asked. “How often do you go for a walk by yourself so you can enjoy the seasons? These are basic human needs that we have abandoned because we live in America, where words manipulate everything we do.”
Second, Fr. Cregan said searching for truth is central to Augustinian tradition.
“God wants us to look inside ourselves,” he said. “Who we are is very different from who we think we are. Without knowing who you are, when you’re really good at saying what everyone else is saying, everything you know is built on sand. True self has no fear.”
The last Augustinian pillar Fr. Cregan highlighted was “having dialog in unity and division.”
“You don’t have to have a feeling about an idea,” he explained. “You may show curiosity about an idea. If you have a feeling about an idea, you’re falling into ideology.”
