Monday, March 18, 2013

Lenten Reflection: March 18

The early chapters of Genesis...are...a revelation...of God's view of the universe and of His intentions for man...God made the world as a garden in which he Himself took delight. He made man, and gave to man the task of sharing in His own divine care for created things. He mad man in His own image and likeness, as an artist, a worker...the gardener of paradise.

---Thomas Merton in "The General Dance."
New Seeds of Contemplation

My Reflection: Well... We've done a great job of messing that up.
Sometimes it amazes me the amount of evil man can inflict on himself and other creatures. People killing each other, abusing animals, stealing cookie money from Girl Scouts...It often weighs me down. I can't watch the news anymore because it just makes me too sad. I listen to a few radio stations that may bring me the "disaster of the day" but for the most part, I try to hide from the world's evilness. I often pray that Jesus will hurry it up and come back sooner rather than later. I am ready for no more babies getting beat up, and no more animals starving, and no more daddies leaving too soon. I am ready for everyone to just play well together. Man..."the gardener of paradise".... sigh.

1 comment:

The SHEFFER clan said...

I am with you... I intentionally don't watch the news. I don't consider myself in denial of the evil in the world. I know it is out there. I have to protect my own soul as it just seriously hurts me too much to immerse myself into it.
But I also have to begrudgingly admit that sometimes the terrible things that happen can sometimes bring out the best in others. I know after Sandy Hook I tried to do extra acts of kindness to try and counteract the bad things in the world. (Not that I want bad things to happen to remind me to be better. I'm not saying that AT ALL... just that there are opposites in all things.)