In today’s world of rapid communication we can learn, almost at once, of the needs and plight of others anywhere on the planet.
We are made aware of, and are able to hear witnesses’ accounts of events, while simultaneously viewing images of situations and the aftermath of those events in even the most remote places; and, to all intents and purposes, this can be done almost as soon as the events occur. Whether this be through the headline subjects on national and international news, or, in the case of less “newsworthy” happenings, through the more focussed consciousness of the organizations and individuals who strive for whatever may be lacking in the lives of those for whom they speak and act, for the most part we remain sadly and shockingly unaware of the reality of those needs, even those we have seen so clearly on television.
If we have no particular interest in other places, other cultures, other peoples, nor in specific needs whether famine, cancer, Aids, blindness, land-mines, the aged, orphans, third-world debt, street-children, the homeless, refugees, the unborn child - the list is far longer than any of us could comprehend – then our television screen is not only the front line for our awareness, but is in danger of actually becoming our awareness. We watch: we see the images and we hear the sounds: we listen to the witness accounts, the commentaries and the discussions. We may feel shocked, upset, angry or sad while we are being led into and through whatever the situation or event may be, but it is only when and where such happenings are reported that we have even a glimpse of these things; and it is only when we have these glimpses that we feel our responses.
When the reporting switches to other news items, it is over: the images gone, the feelings gone, the awareness gone.
We have not even touched the reality of what we have seen, and the mental page-turning carries on without anything raising more than a momentary flicker in our comparatively untroubled lives. We recline in a soporific approximation to the communal spirit inherent in our being man-and-woman-kind.
Individually we are human beings - in and of itself a potential the fullness of which is clearly beyond the realization of many people, and exceeding most of our imaginings - but it is only when we function together that the full meaning of being human can begin to be understood.
More than this, it is only when we learn, as individuals, who we are meant to be, and have moved towards a life as our true selves, that our coming together can begin to manifest the full reality of our potential: the collaborative magnificence and harmony of our individual giftedness.
Only then can we begin to describe ourselves collectively as being truly as our Creator intended: - Humanity.
We have a long way to go.
We wallow in a form of quiet that we interpret as peace; we are physically, mentally and emotionally at rest: we are untroubled, and untroubled is how we wish to remain. We believe that if everyone would only lay back quietly into this non-judgmental and confrontation-free attitude, we would all be able to get on with our lives without being overly concerned about problems not directly touching ourselves. But this is not how we are meant to be.
Getting on with our lives is not what we are here for.
We are here to live. We are here to live life to the full; and that cannot be done without first awakening and nurturing the Spirit within.
Far from being a prompt to get out there and enjoy a selfish and wasteful life, it is an expression of our need to discover those things of which we are capable, but of which we shall otherwise remain forever unaware.
It is a call to wake up: to be alive to the ultimate challenge: - to find, take possession of, and become the persons we were born to be.
Turmoil may billow through our journeys, and our paths may be littered with doubt, failure, temptation and falls. Unhappiness, uncertainty, unrest and unease may lead us towards disillusionment, depression and denial, but through all that comes our way, and through the faith that grows from perseverance, we shall sense the underlying and unwavering constant: a sense of quiet that holds out the promise of reassurance and the holding at bay of all deeper fears, while pulsing through us a belief that all will come right in the end.
As Jesus said to Julian of Norwich,
...........................................“… all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Revelations of Divine Love.)
We are made aware of, and are able to hear witnesses’ accounts of events, while simultaneously viewing images of situations and the aftermath of those events in even the most remote places; and, to all intents and purposes, this can be done almost as soon as the events occur. Whether this be through the headline subjects on national and international news, or, in the case of less “newsworthy” happenings, through the more focussed consciousness of the organizations and individuals who strive for whatever may be lacking in the lives of those for whom they speak and act, for the most part we remain sadly and shockingly unaware of the reality of those needs, even those we have seen so clearly on television.
If we have no particular interest in other places, other cultures, other peoples, nor in specific needs whether famine, cancer, Aids, blindness, land-mines, the aged, orphans, third-world debt, street-children, the homeless, refugees, the unborn child - the list is far longer than any of us could comprehend – then our television screen is not only the front line for our awareness, but is in danger of actually becoming our awareness. We watch: we see the images and we hear the sounds: we listen to the witness accounts, the commentaries and the discussions. We may feel shocked, upset, angry or sad while we are being led into and through whatever the situation or event may be, but it is only when and where such happenings are reported that we have even a glimpse of these things; and it is only when we have these glimpses that we feel our responses.
When the reporting switches to other news items, it is over: the images gone, the feelings gone, the awareness gone.
We have not even touched the reality of what we have seen, and the mental page-turning carries on without anything raising more than a momentary flicker in our comparatively untroubled lives. We recline in a soporific approximation to the communal spirit inherent in our being man-and-woman-kind.
Individually we are human beings - in and of itself a potential the fullness of which is clearly beyond the realization of many people, and exceeding most of our imaginings - but it is only when we function together that the full meaning of being human can begin to be understood.
More than this, it is only when we learn, as individuals, who we are meant to be, and have moved towards a life as our true selves, that our coming together can begin to manifest the full reality of our potential: the collaborative magnificence and harmony of our individual giftedness.
Only then can we begin to describe ourselves collectively as being truly as our Creator intended: - Humanity.
We have a long way to go.
We wallow in a form of quiet that we interpret as peace; we are physically, mentally and emotionally at rest: we are untroubled, and untroubled is how we wish to remain. We believe that if everyone would only lay back quietly into this non-judgmental and confrontation-free attitude, we would all be able to get on with our lives without being overly concerned about problems not directly touching ourselves. But this is not how we are meant to be.
Getting on with our lives is not what we are here for.
We are here to live. We are here to live life to the full; and that cannot be done without first awakening and nurturing the Spirit within.
Far from being a prompt to get out there and enjoy a selfish and wasteful life, it is an expression of our need to discover those things of which we are capable, but of which we shall otherwise remain forever unaware.
It is a call to wake up: to be alive to the ultimate challenge: - to find, take possession of, and become the persons we were born to be.
Turmoil may billow through our journeys, and our paths may be littered with doubt, failure, temptation and falls. Unhappiness, uncertainty, unrest and unease may lead us towards disillusionment, depression and denial, but through all that comes our way, and through the faith that grows from perseverance, we shall sense the underlying and unwavering constant: a sense of quiet that holds out the promise of reassurance and the holding at bay of all deeper fears, while pulsing through us a belief that all will come right in the end.
As Jesus said to Julian of Norwich,
...........................................“… all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Revelations of Divine Love.)
.
