A wonderful sermon yesterday challenged me to check my vision. The topic was the Magi and the star, Herold and the Infant. The message reminded me that the Magi and the King, according to the story in scripture, had the same knowledge. But each party responded in a very different way. The Magi wanted to find the Infant in order to give him gifts. The King wanted to find the Infant in order to take away his life.
The sermon got me thinking that we, too, look at life in a similar way: either with an attitude to give, or an attitude to take.
I think a lot has to do with the amount of fear we carry within ourselves. If we live with inner uncertainty, we live with fear of exposure, and will fight anything we think will cause us loss. All shadows will threaten. If we accept our broken condition and live with faith and trust, we will look through the shadows seeking to find the star of hope.
It is possible. Think of Viktor Frankl. Who could have endured the losses he endured? And yet he found meaning in his terrible ordeal. He writes, often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation which gives us the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond ourselves (p. 72). It is a matter of vision, looking beyond the situation at our feet.
There is a saying that life is what we make of it. I confess, I find that saying a little trite, dismissive of the pain of real human suffering. I would rather say, despite the sufferings we endure in life, we can look beyond and find the star of hope.
It depends on our vision.
No comments:
Post a Comment