Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - June 24, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
"There are three ways in which we might relate to the world – we might exploit it, we might enjoy it, we might accept it in awe." (Abraham Heschel) By this time in human history most of us First World people are familiar with criticism of our selfish exploitation of the earth. I'd like to pass from that to the other parts of Heschel's statement.
We might also, he says, enjoy the world and/or accept it with awe, reverence. To accept it with awe means, as I hope has been stressed enough here, to see every moment of life, every facet of our world, as a great wonder. Something we are made aware of in times of death, tragedy, the arrival of love, the birth of a child.
Something, also, which we so easily forget. How about enjoying the world? Of the three, this may be the most ambiguous. Exploiting the world sounds like an undesirable stance. Accepting it in awe sounds unreservedly good, appropriate. Enjoying it? That can mean a kind of heedless luxuriating in it, using it in the throw-away fashion typical of our culture. We see this in everything from litter to loveless sex. It can be a flip and irreverent draining of the good around us for our satisfaction.
But enjoying the world can also be a way of expressing reverence and appreciation. Appreciating the good things of the earth from melons to music is a way of giving them respect and recognizing their value. We enjoy other people, certainly near the pinnacle of the good of this world, by treasuring with love all that is admirable and lovable in them.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
