I keep thinking about the sequence of events unraveling this week and last…
… about the shootings in D.C., Chicago, and Kenya…
… about the church bombing in Pakistan…
… about renewed attempts to confront global warming…
… about the Sec. of State signing a controversial U.N. arms regulation treaty…
… about all the unrest in the world.
Recently we wrestled with the ‘some kind of evil’ in the world. We don’t like evil. We aren’t comfortable calling evil out, especially when it seems to manifest itself within an actual person. We inconsistently, subjectively acknowledge evil.
I wonder if one of the primary reasons we inconsistently acknowledge evil is because we view it from an illusion of control.
And so my thoughts continue…
From the violent shootings to increased terrorism to global warming to the varied, proposed legislation designed to discontinue or diminish each, one perspective seems to underlie all. In each of those circumstances, we have somehow embraced this idea that we are in control. Yes, we have embraced an illusion of control. We think we can control all things.
We think we can control the shootings…
… if only there were increased gun control legislation, we could stop the mad men… we could thwart all efforts… there’d be no more madness manifested in this oh, so violent, wicked way…
We think we can control global warming…
… if only people would change their environmental habits… be more sensitive… negate carbon emissions… fewer plastic bags… no aerosol cans and increased recycling… there’d be no more significant alterations to our climate…
Yes, we can control this. We can rebuild. We know best. We can control all things.
Time and time again, the Intramuralist’s sincere conclusion is that as a people, we can be incredibly arrogant. We think we’re so smart. And smart we may be, but we repeatedly confuse intelligence with wisdom. The arguable, number one challenge across government and society this day is that we have blindly embraced the illusion of control.
We have bought into the notion that somehow we are in control of all things. We think if we do what we’ve determined to be good, if there is a God, whatever god exists will reward us. But we don’t have to acknowledge God — if he does exist — or dare even consider any submission to a higher power — because we perceive ourselves to be in control.
I believe that to be an unfortunately, arrogant perspective.
Yes, in all of our intelligence, we have still, somehow embraced this illusion of control. Perhaps intelligence is not always a virtue. For while there are certainly prudent efforts we can adopt to care for our people and planet well, we cannot allow those efforts to continue to paint this illusion. Such acknowledgement might actually be the beginning of wisdom.
Respectfully,
AR