From the Greek financial disaster in 2010, to an Irish bank debt crisis, Europe is struggling to rescue “a currency that is so closely linked to its unity that German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently said, ‘If the euro fails, Europe fails’ ” (“Crisis in Ireland tests eurozone vision,” The Christian Science Monitor, November 23, 2010). Is Europe more than the euro? What unites nations, countries, cultures? History? Geography? Money? The euro crisis poses deeper questions than vivid discussion of the so-called eurobonds, tax raises, consumer, public, and corporate debts and bad loans implied.

When the euro was launched 11 years ago, it was celebrated as the culmination of a vision of postwar Europe. Germany re-emerged on the international scene, fostering European unity, erasing borders, and dismantling its nationalistic past. Now the financial crisis is shaking Europe’s core and is calling for tremendous solidarity, patience, cooperation. A different kind of political and economic stability among a patchwork family of countries is needed. 

Compared to the past, many borders are now erased. A common currency is valid for 27 states, unifying these nations with common interests and equally cherished values. Very few aspects of daily life in Europe make one feel more special than traveling from Finland to Germany, from Belgium over France to Italy, with a single currency in your pocket. But Europe must be more than its currency. As the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas wrote last fall: “Democracy depends on the belief of the people that there is some scope left for collectively shaping a challenging future” ( “Leadership and Leitkultur,” The New York Times, October 28, 2010).

To support the unifying process, and find a deeper peace in the current “economic civil war,” it’s worthwhile to visit Delphi in Greece. At the temple of Apollo you can still see the inscription γνῶθι σεαυτόν, which means “Know yourself.” This truth, the counsel of the ages, is never outdated, and if today you browse through any bookstore’s self-help section, you will find titles that use those words or variants on them. Who can say that this concept doesn’t apply to nations as much as it does to individuals? 

Knowing oneself is no small matter. It is far more easily talked and written about than done. This is heightened when a nation or nations seek to understand themselves. How can societies and nations understand their past, their present, and their future? How do we get to the heart of our being? It takes courage to look into the hidden undercurrents of our thinking, to be daring enough to shine a spotlight upon the veiled motives and reasons behind arguing, deciding, and acting. 

Truth’s integrity and trustworthiness bring to the surface everything that needs to be known and understood.

Yet at the heart of the good in each nation are grand qualities that have a metaphysical basis. Qualities that express goodness are eternal and cannot decay. Logic, beauty, creativity, artistic excellence, depth of thought, adventurous spirits, and genius are reflections of Mind, the supreme intelligence of the universe. These qualities have their roots in Life, God, and they are lasting because they stem from pure goodness.

Mary Baker Eddy keenly observed: “It does not follow that power must mature into oppression; indeed, right is the only real potency; and the only true ambition is to serve God and to help the race. Envy is the atmosphere of hell. According to Holy Writ, the first lie and leap into perdition began with ‘Believe in me.’ Competition in commerce, deceit in councils, dishonor in nations, dishonesty in trusts, begin with ‘Who shall be greatest?’” (Message to The Mother Church for 1902, pp. 3–4).

Humility and sweet cooperation, on the other hand, are indispensable and lead to the fearless assessment of motives and acts. We can support this process of honest investigation with the recognition that God’s pure goodness is in the lead. In prayer, we can actively insist on the primacy of honesty, unselfishness, and love as qualities each individual includes. 

Life, God, ensures the constant flow of ideas and concepts. Divine Love is the basis for charity, empathy, and cooperation; and Principle, God, is expressed in fairness, authority, order, and diligence. Truth’s integrity and trustworthiness bring to the surface everything that needs to be known and understood. Mind is the basis for intelligent action and interaction. 

Claiming such qualities for our own nations and also for our work together helps define the spiritual unity that can never be destroyed. “Know thyself” then becomes the basis for an appreciation of good, for thankfulness and an honest appraisal of what has been accomplished so far. 

Such fearless “self-knowledge” will support individual progress as well as the process of governments and nations struggling to work together in respect and in peace. This includes finding resolution to the euro crisis.