First, I’m sorry honey, I know I’m too busy at work to be doing this, but I need a break - and what more relaxing a break-away from work can there be than contemplating a thought from Blaise Pascal? (Maybe rock-climbing or a sparring session could be more relaxing, but no cliffs here and none of my fellow CPAs want to fight me).
Here goes:
How comes it that a cripple does not offend us, but that a fool does? Because a cripple recognises that we walk straight, whereas a fool declares that it is we who are silly; if it were not so, we should feel pity and not anger.
Still more strongly: “Why are we not angry if we are told that we have a headache, and why are we angry if we are told that we reason badly, or choose wrongly”? The reason is that we are quite certain that we have not a headache, or are not lame, but we are not so sure that we make a true choice. So, having assurance only because we see with our whole sight, it puts us into suspense and surprise when another with his whole sight sees the opposite, and still more so when a thousand others deride our choice. For we must prefer our own lights to those of so many others, and that is bold and difficult. There is never this contradiction in the feelings towards a cripple.
Pretty simple, but an insightful thought. “Fools” are often simply unable to see reality clearly due to any number of limitations, or are so misguided by their past expeirences and biases that they (sometimes we) need compassion and help in seeing the truth. Yet we often respond in contempt or anger. Why? Our own human frailty and insecurity. Despite the bold fronts we put on, we are not certain that we are not fools, mistaken in many of our conclusions. We must then KNOW what our core foundations are with an unshakable faith and certain knowledge. If we are not certain in the core of our values, our insecurities will hinder or even prevent our efforts to reach out to those that disagree with us… and prevent us from receiving wise counsel when we need it.
As this applies to our efforts here, we have seen some friends and family respond with initial hostility - kind of a “who are you to preach to me…” type of response. I’m a nobody. I’ll happily admit that. But that does not change the truth of God’s care and demands on us to care for the least of these. Those initial reactions have faded as those close to us come to understand our motivations and see past us to the underlying message. But we have not generated the growth and energy we hoped for. Please, come alongside us and spread this message. We need more support for our kids just to meet basic needs. Help us get there, we need you to be involved even if you cannot support (or are already supporting) one of our kids. This is a chance (one of infinite chances - not pretending we’re THE chance) to give your time and effort, really make a commitment to save lives. If you believe in this message, talk about it… all the time. It should be at the front of our minds in every conversation.
Posted by Jim at 03:45 PM. Filed under: Jim's Existential Ramblings •
