Just a Different Way of Thinking

Deacon Tom writes

“Just a Different Way of Thinking” 

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The first fifteen years of this new millennium have been a challenge beyond any imagination. It seems like just yesterday that we watched in horror as both World Trade Centers collapsed shattering the lives of so many people and, in an instant, changing the course of American history. Although fourteen years have passed, we really haven’t recovered from this event. Indeed, our world has been embroiled in constant turmoil since then. Wars in Iran and Afghanistan, terrorism directed at innocent civilians around the world, financial markets in a state of heightened volatility, unimaginable numbers of refugees risking their lives in search of safety, shelter, and food. Reports of cyber crime, economic disparity, charges of policy brutality keep us in a state of anxiety and increase our worries and our fears about the future. Yes, we have reaped more than our share of hardship and disappointment from this millennium that held out such promise for us as we crossed the threshold into Y2K, a time when we all looked forward with such hope and expectation.  But the reality, sadly, has been much different.

As we struggle to respond to the difficult challenges we face in our own lives and in the world, it occurs to me how important it is to place Christ at the center of our lives. Having Christ at the center of our lives enables us to cope with the magnitude of the problems that confront us on both a personal and global level. For, if our minds and hearts are focused on Christ as our teacher who directs our thoughts, words and actions, we can understand the problems our world is facing and that eventually touch all of our lives in one way or another.

The reason we engage in conflict, the reason we suffer violence, discrimination, the reason fear and anxiety have laid a firm grip on our lives, is because we are not seeing things clearly. We are in every way living the words that Jesus speaks to Peter in today’s gospel… we, “are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” AND acting accordingly!

Yes, sadly, we think in dualistic terms, either – or, win – lose, terms. That is,  we function, consciously or sub-consciously under the belief that one can only win by someone else loosing, as if the activities of our lives…  political, economic, and even spiritual lives are all zero-sum games. Our thinking remains darkened by that pesky original sin, which limits our vision for goodness and seeks only what is best for ourselves. Fueled by desires that are too often primitive and self-centered, we fight with one another to obtain more for ourselves at the expense of others. That’s true for nations as well as individuals. How long now have we known about sweatshops and the exploitation of those who work there and yet, we continue to buy the items they produce? How long have we denied paying living wages to those who do menial labor in this country so we can have more “stuff”? 

There are so many good works that we do because we are trying to live and act as Christ taught us, and we can never lose track of that. Yet it is clear that our world suffers today because too many of us are still thinking, “as human beings do”. St. James calls us to task by reminding us that we are often long on talk and short on doing. He challenges us to live our faith in a way that demonstrates our efforts to strive to think as God thinks. How does God think? Jesus let us know that and His message is clear: we should love one another and take care of our brothers and sisters in need, just as He loves and cares for us.  That way of living puts aside our dualistic thinking so that we can focus single-mindedly on Christ and see and think as he does. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: turboread.com