The terror in Gaza and its reverberations on college campuses across the United States have occupied so much of our news that other situations have been relegated to the back pages or just need searching on the internet. We’re overwhelmed with issues that demand our attention. Sometimes we just want to shut down.
We are overwhelmed, to be sure, so what happens, argues one writer, is that people see what they are looking for. Although the upcoming New Yorker article is talking about concentration in the age of technology, it applies to politics as well. It’s natural to concentrate on what consumes us.
As a result, our world, that is, how we look at the world reflects what we choose to read or even understand, cutting out what contradicts our worldview. And we usually eschew those who do not share our worldview, contributing even further to the deep divisions in our society. Crossing the aisle, so to speak, is difficult, but necessary to re-establish the social trust that we have lost as a society.
Prayer for the Day
Overwhelmed, O God, we take refuge in our inner world,
Often reflecting the world the way we want it to be;
Challenged by others whose lives are different than our own,
We close the windows of our minds without question.
But you, O Holy One, push us beyond our imagination,
Forcing us to question our presumptions about others.
Open us, in the name of the One who always questioned,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Eye tracking is not attention, in a number of important ways. You can look without seeing—and you can see without looking.
Mike Follett, Director, Lumen Research quote in The New Yorker
When I look at the world, I feel that something is being lost or actively undermined. Sometimes it feels like attention. Sometimes it feels like imagination. Sometimes it feels like that thing you wanted when you became an English major, that sort of half-dreamed, half-real thing you thought you were going to be. Whatever that is: it’s under attack.
Stevie Knauss, artist
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.
Full of majesty and honor is God’s work, and God’s righteousness endures forever.
Psalm 111: 2