WE have to be more aware of our responsibilities toward our internal world. That’s the world of our thoughts, ideas, desires, plans, ambitions, even our imagination and memory.
We tend to take this fundamental aspect of our life for granted. Precisely because of its hidden and invisible character, we get most tempted to subject it to purely personal and individualistic manipulations.
Hardly anything else can be more dangerous than this situation. We are meant to orient ourselves outside—to others, and to God ultimately. That’s how we have been designed, wired and outfitted. We focus on ourselves, and we’d get a short-circuit.
We tend to simply go on automatic pilot, fully at the mercy of whatever fancy captures our attention at the moment. Hardly any effort to reflect is done. Hardly any running exertion to relate facts with proper values and principles is made.
Conforming our internal world to God’s law and will, a continuing task, is
ignored. The ideal to reach, for a Christian believer, is to say together with Christ:
“I cannot of myself do anything. As I hear, so I judge, and my judgment is
just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” (Jn 5,30)
I wonder whether we realize this principle in our actions, especially in our internal world of thoughts and desires.
Forgetting this truth leads us to be indifferent, if not averse, to our social duties. It can easily lend itself to deceit and hypocrisy in one’s personal life. We have to be wary of these tendencies, and be active in resisting them.
We have to understand that our world of thoughts, desires, imagination and memory play a very important role in our life. That’s where ideas are hatched and developed, goals set and pursued, plans made and processed.
The humanness of our actions is born and shaped in this internal world of ours. And we have to see to it that our actions are not results of mere routine, or of blind forces. They have to be deliberate and known as thoroughly as possible.
The quality of our external world is actually a direct function of the quality of our internal world. How we are inside—in our thoughts and desires, etc.—shapes how we are outside.
We have to check our proclivity to act purely out of spontaneity, or to limit our behavior on the level of instincts only. We have to go further, deeper, wider. In fact, we have to go toward infinity, because our mind and will are oriented toward it.
Our spiritual faculties not only allow us to enter into the spiritual reality, but enable us to be lifted up to the supernatural order which, to Christian believers, is what we have been called to. Our life is not just purely natural human life. It is supernatural life, a sharing in the very life of God.
This is a point worth insisting. We tend to waste the powers of our mind and will, our most important faculties, by using them only for material, temporal, if not selfish ends. Let’s remember that they are meant for endless possibilities.
But for Christian believers, this infinity to which our mind and will are oriented is not just anything. It has a name and a face. And that’s God who has been revealed fully by Jesus Christ.
Infinity is not just an empty, open space without boundaries where we can play in any way we want. It has a certain substance and specificity. It’s not just some vague field of inexhaustible potentials and eventualities.
It’s true that as some adage puts it, life is what you make it. To a certain extent, it’s a valid affirmation. But it should not be made absolute. Life is both what you make it and a matter of conforming it to some laws.
We need to align our thoughts and desires, our imagination and memory, to God’s designs. For this we have to practice and develop the necessary skills and virtues.
This is the challenge we have today. We need to guard and develop our internal world.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Media and charity
THESE two concepts and realities need not clash. In fact, they should not. Everyone, and especially those in media, no matter how hot on the trail of truth, justice and freedom, should work for charity.
This means that regardless of how we may be in conflict in any aspect of our life and activities, we should always care for one another.Patience, compassion, mercy, magnanimity, good manners, sobriety should prevail. We are all brothers and sisters, first, last and in between.
Besides, whatever amount of reason one may have on his side, the other party always has some reason too, and this should not just be dismissed completely.
Everyone has to learn to listen to everybody else and respect the position of others, even if one is convinced such position is inferior or even wrong. This is the law that governs our dealings with one another.
We always have to practice restraint and moderation in our
discussions, keeping a good grip on our emotions and passions, and even on our reasonings. This is an elementary principle in civil behavior.
We don’t suppress them, because that is not human. It’s just to
put the lid on them, because unguided by charity, they tend to exaggerate, twist and even pervert the proper order of values, making one self-righteous and misleading us.
Without charity, we can easily fall into misplaced ironies, gossipy detractions and calumnies, reckless stereotyping and labeling. Without charity, we tend to live in a black-and-white world, provoking polarity and division among the people.
We have to remember that charity always works within the system of our emotions, passions and reasonings. But because of our personal, spiritual nature, not to mention our supernatural calling, charity has requirements that transcend these human faculties.
Poor Erap, some newspapers automatically refer to him now as
plunderer. He may have been convicted of plunder, but is it good taste, not to mention, charitable to say so?
In many letters to editor, the same transgressions of charity come aplenty. And many editors feel they can just present these letters as they are, in what I consider as an inappropriate show of journalistic objectivity.
They fail to realize that the views expressed are just opinions that need not be held as gospel-truth. Since they do not possess the only position, much less the whole truth, these opinions should be expressed with delicate respect for other opinions.
It would indeed be a great service to the media’s audience if those responsible in transmitting news, views and opinions take utmost care in meeting this fine requirement of good journalism.
They always have to mind balance, fairness and manners. They have to avoid sensationalism at all costs. That sadly seems to be a common sickness, a cheap trick often resorted to by media people to cover up lack of material or worse, one’s partisan views.
With sensationalism, readers and listeners are provoked to be more emotional than rational. This is not to mention that we are supposed to go beyond, not against, rationality to be charitable, which is always the ideal to pursue.
Media people, like everybody else, need to upgrade their communication skills always, polishing them to the point that their technical excellence begins and ends with charity.
They should not remain in the level of the technical, especially now when there are many rationalizations to justify lack of charity.
For example, there are those who claim that due to the rush and lack of time plus the other pressures, media people should be exempted from the strict adherence to the finer points of charity.
That may be true, but that just cannot be held as a principle to
follow. It should be more of an exception. We commit mistakes sometimes, but we should manfully own and correct them.
There also are those who say that to be objective, realistic and just plain human in projecting things as they are, we should just relax the requirements of charity.
These are clearly cases of self-justifying sophistry. Everyone,
including the media audience, should contribute to a fair, balanced journalism by truly living charity.
This means that regardless of how we may be in conflict in any aspect of our life and activities, we should always care for one another.Patience, compassion, mercy, magnanimity, good manners, sobriety should prevail. We are all brothers and sisters, first, last and in between.
Besides, whatever amount of reason one may have on his side, the other party always has some reason too, and this should not just be dismissed completely.
Everyone has to learn to listen to everybody else and respect the position of others, even if one is convinced such position is inferior or even wrong. This is the law that governs our dealings with one another.
We always have to practice restraint and moderation in our
discussions, keeping a good grip on our emotions and passions, and even on our reasonings. This is an elementary principle in civil behavior.
We don’t suppress them, because that is not human. It’s just to
put the lid on them, because unguided by charity, they tend to exaggerate, twist and even pervert the proper order of values, making one self-righteous and misleading us.
Without charity, we can easily fall into misplaced ironies, gossipy detractions and calumnies, reckless stereotyping and labeling. Without charity, we tend to live in a black-and-white world, provoking polarity and division among the people.
We have to remember that charity always works within the system of our emotions, passions and reasonings. But because of our personal, spiritual nature, not to mention our supernatural calling, charity has requirements that transcend these human faculties.
Poor Erap, some newspapers automatically refer to him now as
plunderer. He may have been convicted of plunder, but is it good taste, not to mention, charitable to say so?
In many letters to editor, the same transgressions of charity come aplenty. And many editors feel they can just present these letters as they are, in what I consider as an inappropriate show of journalistic objectivity.
They fail to realize that the views expressed are just opinions that need not be held as gospel-truth. Since they do not possess the only position, much less the whole truth, these opinions should be expressed with delicate respect for other opinions.
It would indeed be a great service to the media’s audience if those responsible in transmitting news, views and opinions take utmost care in meeting this fine requirement of good journalism.
They always have to mind balance, fairness and manners. They have to avoid sensationalism at all costs. That sadly seems to be a common sickness, a cheap trick often resorted to by media people to cover up lack of material or worse, one’s partisan views.
With sensationalism, readers and listeners are provoked to be more emotional than rational. This is not to mention that we are supposed to go beyond, not against, rationality to be charitable, which is always the ideal to pursue.
Media people, like everybody else, need to upgrade their communication skills always, polishing them to the point that their technical excellence begins and ends with charity.
They should not remain in the level of the technical, especially now when there are many rationalizations to justify lack of charity.
For example, there are those who claim that due to the rush and lack of time plus the other pressures, media people should be exempted from the strict adherence to the finer points of charity.
That may be true, but that just cannot be held as a principle to
follow. It should be more of an exception. We commit mistakes sometimes, but we should manfully own and correct them.
There also are those who say that to be objective, realistic and just plain human in projecting things as they are, we should just relax the requirements of charity.
These are clearly cases of self-justifying sophistry. Everyone,
including the media audience, should contribute to a fair, balanced journalism by truly living charity.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Simplicity of heart
WE may grow old and wizened by age and by exposure to all sorts of elements in life. But we have to learn to be childlike always in our mind and heart even as we cannot avoid deteriorating physically.
This is a human need. Deep within us, we pine to retain that eternal youthfulness, that spiritual childhood. And if we know how, we can achieve just that, not much because of pills, gels, tonic drinks, or the hypnotizing mantras of the so-called wellness fad, etc.
Rather, the human spirit can defy aging, precisely because it is not subject to life’s wear and tear or the ravages of time. This, as long as we don’t’ allow the spirit to get entangled with our bodily and worldly conditions.
Our human spirit can always transcend these material and temporal conditions, even if it cannot escape them. And that capacity depends on whether we know how to develop, keep and grow in simplicity of heart.
This is the quality referred to by our Lord when he said: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter into it.” (Mk 10,14-15)
It’s the quality that enables us to keep our innocence in spite of or because of the knowledge and experiences we acquire in life. It brings with it its friends and allies: honesty, transparency, rectitude, integrity, purity, meekness, humility, joy, peace, etc.
It’s the salt of perfection since it orients us toward God always, and resembles us to him little by little. It’s God who is the beginning and end of simplicity, not any other worldly thing. It’s his grace that makes us simple.
The quote above tells us a lot about the nature and character of this particular virtue. It tells us to be like little children who instinctively want to go and stay with our Lord. It makes us uncomfortable to be away from him.
It moves us to conform our thoughts and will to God’s. Every time we exert
the effort to adapt our words and acts to God’s commandments, the genuine sign of love, we grow in simplicity.
It helps us to stay focused, pure and consistent in all our parts and aspects. It defends us from the temptations offered by the effects of our sin: “the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and pride of life.”
It’s an essential ingredient for our spiritual vitality, since it teaches us how to bear suffering, how to be patient and optimistic, how to wage war earnestly against the enemies of our soul.
Thus, it develops and grows to the extent that we properly nurture our relationship with God. It certainly wilts and dies in the face of the current craze of self-absorption.
This is what we have to be most wary about. We are immersed in a world tsunami of self-seeking and ego-tripping, cleverly masked by humanly legitimate reasons. We have to get out of the state of denial many of us are in.
But its evil effects and consequences cannot be hidden. Sooner or later, they appear in spite of enormous efforts to cover them up. There’s so much bickering, envy, bitterness, hypocrisy.
There’s a lot of double think and double talk, mental dishonesty, malicious calculating maneuvers to foster self-interest rather than the common good. Some people have lapsed to skepticism and cynicism. A few even create their own world, quite deluded and detached from the reality.
Simplicity of heart enables one to see things objectively, and to see God’s designs accurately. This is what keeps him from falling into sadness and despair. It helps connect one’s senses to his faith.
Simplicity of heart also facilitates proper dealings with others, as it eliminates offensive airs and biases that form barriers among people. It smooths interactions between persons.
We should do everything to promote this particular virtue. In homes and schools, and even in offices, everywhere, strategies to develop this virtue should be made and pursued.
This is a human need. Deep within us, we pine to retain that eternal youthfulness, that spiritual childhood. And if we know how, we can achieve just that, not much because of pills, gels, tonic drinks, or the hypnotizing mantras of the so-called wellness fad, etc.
Rather, the human spirit can defy aging, precisely because it is not subject to life’s wear and tear or the ravages of time. This, as long as we don’t’ allow the spirit to get entangled with our bodily and worldly conditions.
Our human spirit can always transcend these material and temporal conditions, even if it cannot escape them. And that capacity depends on whether we know how to develop, keep and grow in simplicity of heart.
This is the quality referred to by our Lord when he said: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter into it.” (Mk 10,14-15)
It’s the quality that enables us to keep our innocence in spite of or because of the knowledge and experiences we acquire in life. It brings with it its friends and allies: honesty, transparency, rectitude, integrity, purity, meekness, humility, joy, peace, etc.
It’s the salt of perfection since it orients us toward God always, and resembles us to him little by little. It’s God who is the beginning and end of simplicity, not any other worldly thing. It’s his grace that makes us simple.
The quote above tells us a lot about the nature and character of this particular virtue. It tells us to be like little children who instinctively want to go and stay with our Lord. It makes us uncomfortable to be away from him.
It moves us to conform our thoughts and will to God’s. Every time we exert
the effort to adapt our words and acts to God’s commandments, the genuine sign of love, we grow in simplicity.
It helps us to stay focused, pure and consistent in all our parts and aspects. It defends us from the temptations offered by the effects of our sin: “the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and pride of life.”
It’s an essential ingredient for our spiritual vitality, since it teaches us how to bear suffering, how to be patient and optimistic, how to wage war earnestly against the enemies of our soul.
Thus, it develops and grows to the extent that we properly nurture our relationship with God. It certainly wilts and dies in the face of the current craze of self-absorption.
This is what we have to be most wary about. We are immersed in a world tsunami of self-seeking and ego-tripping, cleverly masked by humanly legitimate reasons. We have to get out of the state of denial many of us are in.
But its evil effects and consequences cannot be hidden. Sooner or later, they appear in spite of enormous efforts to cover them up. There’s so much bickering, envy, bitterness, hypocrisy.
There’s a lot of double think and double talk, mental dishonesty, malicious calculating maneuvers to foster self-interest rather than the common good. Some people have lapsed to skepticism and cynicism. A few even create their own world, quite deluded and detached from the reality.
Simplicity of heart enables one to see things objectively, and to see God’s designs accurately. This is what keeps him from falling into sadness and despair. It helps connect one’s senses to his faith.
Simplicity of heart also facilitates proper dealings with others, as it eliminates offensive airs and biases that form barriers among people. It smooths interactions between persons.
We should do everything to promote this particular virtue. In homes and schools, and even in offices, everywhere, strategies to develop this virtue should be made and pursued.
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