Last week I was planting flowers in my window boxes when a man on a motorcycle stopped to chat with a couple walking down the street. The motorcycle man spoke loudly and lively about our coronavirus times. He talked about how everyone is so afraid, and how both his daughter and granddaughter who are nurses think the whole thing is overblown. I heard him mention the New World Order, Bill Gates' name, and a quote from a Facebook meme that I had also seen. He declared that he would not wear a mask, because "I don't believe in it." This man's remarks reflected the preoccupation of everyone, everywhere with COVID-19.
One thing stood out to me as definite truth in what the motorcycle man was saying. He speculated that the media is inundating us with nothing but coronavirus news in order to control our thoughts. There's no doubt in my mind, all conspiracy theories aside, that the constant flood of information on this one topic gives more potent weight to it than it deserves. And because feelings always flow from thoughts, we are left in a state of perennial confusion, panic, anxiety, deep suspicion, and even despair.
To be sure, our minds and emotions are being thoroughly manipulated. We are being taken advantage of, kept in a state of high alert by opportunists bombarding us from many angles. Like small children being led from one distraction to another, we are largely unaware that we've lost our center, our bearings, and we wouldn't know sound doctrine if it bit us in the behind. Divide and conquer. It's a classic tactic, and we're falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
Yet at the center of a cyclone is perfect calm. This phenomenon is known as the Eye of Peace. What if we could sit in that center and be completely undisturbed by the havoc around us? We can. Jesus is our Eye of Peace. He chastised his apostles for fearing the storm when God himself was in the boat with them. We think we need to know what's going on, so we must watch all-the-news and debate everyone on social media. This gives us a false semblance of control. We are not in control.
A quick glance at headlines will tell us the general state of things, and if there really is any earth-shattering news, we will undoubtedly hear about it. Otherwise, why not go about your day as if dwelling in the tornado's core? No one could see the truth of the storm more clearly than one smack dab in the middle of its peace. Am I right? But of course.
We return, once again, to the gift of Wisdom. Without it, we are lost at sea. We won't receive this precious gift unless we have faith. St. Augustine said that faith must come first; only then will understanding follow. We have it backwards. We want certainties, guarantees, absolute proof of the thing before we will believe. But even when presented with the truth, many people will turn a deaf ear, because it doesn't align with the narrative they've chosen to follow and hold onto with the tenacity of a pit bull.
Instead, let us immerse ourselves in right things, giving our finite energy to the tasks directly before us, which are in fact only comprised of this one day, today, and are without doubt not to be found in the storms of news and the internet. Note than in biblical terms, the mind is centered in the heart. What you choose to fill your mind with will inform the workings of your heart. From what place do your intentions flow? Are the tasks you set for yourself ultimately an offering for the infinite Kingdom?
I'll leave you with this, from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, 1: 15-19, Confraternity Version:
Wherefore I on my part, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and of your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in deep knowledge of him: the eyes of your mind being enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe.
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