The Challenge of Possibilities

‘You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.’ -Thomas Merton

We all know those people who say that they either can’t watch the TV news at night because they won’t be able to sleep or that they have given up following world events all together. Both these statements imply that if the hearers don’t agree then they, the hearers, are obviously not grasping the seriousness of the events or/and are lacking in empathy and compassion. Otherwise they too would be unable to watch.

Yes, there are huge problems on the evening news.

Yes, no one person can cure even one of them.

Yes, it is imperative that we feel disgust and dismay at what we see.

No, we can’t hide our heads in the sand and hope it will all go away.

Because it won’t!!

Perhaps we can’t do anything to stop the bloodshed in the mid-east but we can offer our support, monetary and otherwise, to those fleeing that horror: to refugees both here and in refugee camps.

Perhaps we can’t right the wrongs that have been suffered by the indigenous population in the last 150 years. However we can support the efforts of the Canadian Government to improve their living conditions and address the wrongs with our voices and at the polls.

Perhaps we can’t single-handedly stop the effect of global warming in the Arctic, of floods, droughts, hurricanes and earthquakes across the globe, but we can turn off our taps, restrict our use of fossil fuels, buy locally grown produce and stop using our resources as if there is no end to them.

And I have only started on WHAT we all can do. I’m sure you have many more examples that have come to your mind. If we won’t take a stand, even a little one, we become one of the people below, who all missed that opportunity to do something about the serious events they were faced with.

For I was hungry and you said,

"Drug test those who would ask for food.”

I was thirsty and you said,

“Oil for us is more important than water for them. Build the pipeline.”

I was a stranger and you said,

“He could be a terrorist. Don’t let him in.”

I was sick and you said, “Take away her health insurance.”

I was in prison and you said,

“Those people disgust me. We should bring back the death penalty.”

Truly I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these, you did to me.

Matthew 25:35-36 (Author Unknown)

Changing how we think. Changing our actions. Changing how we relate to the world about us. Isn't this really what Lent is all about as it calls us to transform who we are.

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