Today is December 7th - which in our country will forever call to mind the attack at Pearl Harbor. There are stories floating around of people who were concerned about blips on the radar and rumors of Japanese ships which were way too close. Stories of these threats being reported, but no being acted upon. For some reason, the powers that be were not moved or convinced or concerned - I don't know because I just wasn't there - and stories told now by survivors are tainted with the pain of remembering decades of pain. It is hard to see where the truth is.
So many things around us are unclear-and it is so often the case that it is hard to see where the truth is. Even now, in the age of internet enlightenment and a doozen educational channels on cable, there are things that are difficult to explain like crop circles and standing stones and alien ships and Area 51 and ghosts and terrorist groups and saints and miracles and healings and the ten million conspiracy theories which swirl around. It is a lot to take in- but it catches my attention non-the-less. Where is the truth - the reality - the part of these stories that I should be paying attention to and learn from? How do you tease that out so that when the Japanese planes come buzzing overhead with the dawn, your troops are protected? Do we need to worry about being protected at all - and if so, from what?
I refuse to live in fear. We tried that once- it just wasn't the carnival ride you'd expect. I also refuse to live a life with my head in the sand.
As Catholics we profess to believe in all that is seen and unseen. Those guys at Nicea were not just throwing words together- they understoon a thousand years ago- and before - that there are things we do not see and do not understand. Okay, I have to agree with that. There are lots of things that I understand that I cannot see like atoms and the ozone layer- so I can believe that. But there are also spiritual forces that I cannot see - and just because I don't want to believe in them, doesnt' mean they aren't there. I like the idea of lumping all those menacing things together as the unseen.
But in believing in them, it is akin to believing in the threat from the blips on the radar and the rumors of war: they require that we prepare and pay attention.
We each have our little daily battles - some of us more heavily laden in our packs than others- but the war does go on.
Today, on this day of remembrance, I hope the Lord will look down with love on those families who were impacted byt Pearl Harbor - and those families who are heavily laden today - blessing them with his infusion of love.
Today, I remember and learn from the history of my people.
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