Keeping up with reality

THAT may sound strange to us now, what with all the technologies that give us an abundance of data and information and enable us to cruise in cyberspace in an instant to be practically everywhere in the world.

But unless our grasp of reality is based on God, all this worldly knowledge and wisdom will come to nothing, and can even pose as a danger to us. God is the source of reality. Nothing is real unless it is related to God.

At best, what we would have are sensible and intelligible realities—already exciting and engaging in themselves—but if not related to God, they would lack roots and ultimate purpose, and most likely would just be converted into human tools if not toys used for purely human, natural if not material objectives.

We would have a very partial and poor view of things that often give rise to biases, prejudices and short-term impulses. It’s like going through life very handicapped. Our understanding of life would lack depth and real substance.

The other day while waiting for my plane in the airport, I observed a group of young boys and girls who were creating quite a stir in the place with their presence. They behaved bubbly as can be expected. Many of them had their electronic cameras and were taking pictures of their own selves.

They were well dressed, hip style. Even the boys who looked normal to me, upon closer look, wore light make-up. It seems that’s the trend now. They posed before their own cameras, and how good they were at posing! After each shot, they would look at what they took, and youthful laughter and buzz erupted. Obviously they were having a grand time.

Then the public system announced that the flight was delayed. At once, the smiling faces turned sour and sulky, not only for a while, bur rather for the rest of the waiting period of one hour. Now I saw a different side of their personality. They didn’t look nice to me anymore.

We obviously have many aspects, dimensions, levels and stages in our life, but precisely because of this variety there is a need to unify them. Otherwise, we would not know what would become of us. This unifying element is our ultimate dignity as persons and children of God. We just cannot get stuck in one aspect or dimension or stage.

This innate dignity of ours is what relates us, and everything in us and around us, to God. In short, we would be doing harm to our dignity if we fail to relate ourselves to God by praying, by developing an abiding sense of the presence of God, by continually offering things to him and discerning what his will is for us at any given moment.

If we are just stuck with the physical or material aspect of our activities, or with the social, economic or political factors without relating them to God’s will, then we are falling into our own world, our own reality, perhaps with its highs and all, but just that. We would fail to keep up with the “real” reality meant for us.

Our reality, for sure, cannot just be physical reality, nor can it only be material, social, economic or political. It’s a very dynamic reality, living and consciously in touch with the very creator of that reality. We don’t create that reality. We simply take part of it as consciously and as freely as possible.

If we don’t relate things to God, then our thoughts and behavior would just be ruled by what is convenient, practical, profitable, popular, etc. The finer requirements of justice and charity, mercy and understanding, need for sacrifice, etc. would just be neglected.

I’m sure we have at least some ideas or inklings of these truths about ourselves. We really cannot avoid them completely. Our problem is that we don’t go all the way in living these truths with consistency up to their last consequences and implications.

Even those already committed to work in the vineyard of the Lord have to continue struggling it out, otherwise they cannot help but fall into the tricks of pretension and hypocrisy sooner or later.

There’s need to teach people to pray, to live by faith and not by reason alone, or worse, by guts alone. There’s need to familiarize everyone with the spiritual and supernatural realities meant for us. There’s need to highlight the importance of sacrifice and ascetical struggle, to be realistic in our effort to achieve spiritual growth.