Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Seeing Reality Requires...

Seeking Perspective

There is only one thing I would suggest, and it is this. Keep a sense of proportion. Don't overreact. See things in perspective. You will come to realize that very few things in life are worth getting disturbed over. If you maintain a sense of perspective, you will grow in wisdom, depth and holiness of life.”
Sister Mary Roman (quoted by Wayne Teasdall in The Mystic Heart)

We live in a world of hyperbole. I don't know exactly when it started. I don't remember Walter Cronkite doing it on the evening news. I can't imagine him yelling at guests during interviews. But somewhere along the way, Ricky Ricardo became the model for news reporters.

Seeing things in perspective is passe. Nowadays, our reporters risk life and limb to film truckloads of hooded guys firing machine guns into the air, or stand in the middle of rain-swollen rivers to show us the effect of extensive flooding, or drive into the eye of a tornado just so we don't miss its incredible force. I hope they have good life insurance. We've come to expect everything, including our news, to be over-the-top. And if it's not, we're bored.

In pursuit of the sacred in life, one gift is the capacity to see reality as it is, and to see ourselves as we are without blinders. It's okay. We aren't perfect; some of us are no longer young, and some of us are not handsome. We are sometimes bad tempered, sometimes kind. We can acknowledge our flaws without dwelling on them. We can recognize our abilities without arrogance. We can keep a sense of proportion about all of it.

There is a tradition in Catholicism that priests and nuns, bishops and brothers carry a card with this advice from St. Teresa of Avila, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing worry you. Everything is passing away. Only God is changeless. God alone suffices.” It's not meant to be fatalistic, only realistic. As we move through life, everything will change. People will be born and die, countries will rise and fall, storms will come, as will fair weather. We have an anchor and that anchor is faith.

                                                   In the Spirit,

                                                       Jane

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