“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
We live in a world of overstimulation to our senses, and a noise level to drown out the sounds to calm our souls, find a quiet time to hear what we need to listen to. The visibility of our world provides images I care not to see many times. For the last several years, I have turned off the television and opted for silence while working at home. I can then hear the sounds echo in my house from the outside world of pure nature.
Not everyone can do this because of their location. However, we can choose the sounds we welcome into our space. In addition, we can also decide the focus we will have on how we view our world.
The view from my space
The little corner of your world is created by how you decide you want your space to be. Right now, take a look around. Pick up an object from your area. What does it mean to you? Why is it in your space? I have a little sign that reads: “the good things in life are better with you,” If I look up, I have a sign my daughter and grandchildren made. “Family is life’s greatest blessing.” The birds in the picture represent each grandchild with their thumbprint to create a heart on their bird.
My corner is also full of books! I love holding a book in my hand with post-it notes, pencils, and highlighters to enjoy. It can get messy on occasion, but it is my little corner.
When I choose, I can look at the news from different sources and see a focus on many things. What is unseen by many is the many things we have lost over time and the changes which happen over time as we “allow” them to happen. I have had the opportunity to do more reading, research, and gather information. I stumbled across the work of Peter F. Drucker. He is the author of several books I have not completed reading: The Age of Discontinuity, The Unseen Revolution: How Pension Fund Socialism Came to America, and many others. I enjoy reading books from all periods and genres.
The Age of Discontinuity is the one I am reading through currently. Publication of this book occurred in 1968 and a much different period. “Our time, all of us would agree, is a time of momentous changes-in politics and in science, in world view, and more, in the arts and warfare.”-The Age of Discontinuity. You could read that quote in a book written for the period we are living in now.
Another comparison I will share is: “Government is certainly all-pervasive. But is it solid? Or is it only big? There is mounting evidence that government is big rather than strong; fat and flabby rather than powerful; that it costs a great deal but does not achieve much.”-The Age of Discontinuity pg. 212. You will find this in the chapter titled The Sickness of Government.
What is unseen?
Time. We cannot see it, but it goes by quickly.
Sound. We cannot see sound with our eyes but hear or feel it.
Stars. We can only see them at night if there are clear skies.
Love. We see images and interpretations and read words, feel it. Do you see it enough?
Are there examples you have? I began with a quote from the Bible, which is a beautiful example. We walk by our faith, not by our sight, in our belief in not this life but our eternal life. These days walking on our path in our life journey, we need to pay close attention to what is not heard and what is unseen. Deception, depression, and discouragement will find ways in our daily lives when we are not looking and listening.
“But the society of organizations may offer greater opportunities for meaningful, effective, responsible freedom than earlier society. Whether they will be realized depends on what we do rather than what “they,” the institutions do. We face a period of hard new thinking on the political structure of society and the position and role of the individual in it.”-The Age of Discontinuity, pg. 260
Be the solution daily in a world that needs you! Learning from the past, living in the present, and building the future depends on looking through the lenses of many. Truth is always discovered when all of the stones are turned over. Enjoy reading a book today! Learn something new! Create a craft to share with someone. Vote when you have the opportunity to do so. Speak up with a voice of wisdom, truth, positive thoughts, and facts. Nothing is solved when voices are raised and asked to escalate to violence or to ignore the laws of our land. It is the voice of reason, democracy, and learning how to handle situations without blowing the candles out of others to try to shine brighter.
If we do not have a balance in our systems, our system will fail. When the system fails, life as we once knew it would no longer exist. It is time to see with our own eyes the truth before us and to live as we understand we should in a country founded on God we trust. Life, Liberty, and at this time, law and order. We must get back to safety for all.