Glimpse of truth

Human kind cannot bear very much reality

                     TS Eliot

 

People with a distorted image of self, world, or God will be largely incapable of experiencing what is really real in the world.  They will see things through a narrow keyhole.  They’ll see instead what they need reality to be, what they’re afraid it is, or what they’re angry for it being.  They’ll see everything through their anger, their fear, or their agenda.  In other words, they won’t see it at all

                     Richard Rohr (the wisdom pattern)

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we see what we want to see

we hear what we want to hear

we believe what we want to believe

 

in short

each one of us tends to create our reality “whole cloth” out of our own

anger and fear

our own values and priorities

 

and it makes for an unholy mess

 

as we distort

and avoid

and end up functionally more than a little delusional

 

this is why some people can look at Donald Trump and see a savior

and others look at him and see the incarnation of evil

 

this why some look at Joe Biden and see strength and decency

and others see a stuttering and demented fool

 

this is why to some the BLM protests look like destructive anarchy

and to others they look like peace and productive cries for change

 

this is why when a minister preachers a sermon to 50 people

she or he preaches 50 different sermons

 

as much as we would like to believe that it is only the “other” side

that does this kind of distortion

the reality is that all of us, at one level or another

are guilty

 

it is part of the human condition

 

it is not all bad!

It is natural and appropriate for us to interpret reality

based upon who we are, and what we have experienced

this is why one passage in the Bible can say different things to different people

 

because we need different things from that passage

 

but at some level there must be a truth that is universal

truth is not simply in the mind of the beholder

 

which is why I like Paul’s statement in Romans 12

“do not let he world squeeze you into its mold

 but be transformed by the renewing of your minds”

 

be transformed

let Sacred renew your minds

 

in short, rather than letting the world

with its warped priorities and extreme ideologies

alter our brains, until we can no longer see

 

we need to go deep

go inside

find the Sacred in us

 

we need to let the spring of living water gush

need to let the living giving sap flow from the vine

 

or to put it another way

we need to let God alter our brains

so that we can see what is true

 

or at least catch glimpses of the truth

(because we will never, ever, have a monopoly on truth)

 

and once we have that “bit of truth”

we need to test it

by chewing on it in the context of a “beloved community”

but altering it, constantly

by offering it humbly, to others, knowing we might be wrong

by looking at our “truth” in the context of Jesus’ teachings

 

did I mention humility?

and flexibility?  the need to allow God to constantly introduce ‘the new”?

 

letting God shape our minds is a never ending process

perhaps that is why we are also told to pray without ceasing

 

there are somethings I will probably never stop believing

that all people are valuable

that all people are loved by God

that God calls us to heal the stick, clothed the naked, feed the hungry

house the homeless

 

that we are to overcome evil with good

and that love wins

 

but I need to constantly, every moment

allow my soul to be a construction zone

and let God renew my mind

and give me

 

eyes that see what is true