As I listen to the news during the day, I find my anger at various companies, institutions, and people continually coming to the surface. There is, after all, a lot about which to be angry. The trouble is, such anger has never proved helpful for me.
Even when such anger is justified, being angry or seeking retribution will not reverse history, nor will it help bring about a change to the problem which caused my anger. Problems in our world will continue. People (including me) will continue to make decisions with which we disagree. People will continue being hurtful (intentionally or unintentionally). None of us know what will be the outcome of this life, nor of those who cause people harm (including ourselves).
Growing angry over harm in this world and then acting or speaking out of that anger will only add more hurt to the world. The only helpful course is to look with charity upon those who have caused hurt, those who have to make difficult decisions, and upon those who are most immediately affected by those harmful acts or difficult decisions, to let go of our anger and fear, and to seek peace within ourselves before we seek to understand those around us. Only when we are at peace and looking on others with charity are we able to provide constructive responses to our world.
The title of my blog is a reference to when the apostle Paul was struck blind upon meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. This was Paul's conversion to Christianity, and three days later, "something like scales" fell from his eyes, and he could see again. The entries that follow are times in my life when "something like scales" has fallen from my eyes and I have seen the world in a new way.
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What follows is a letter I wrote to National Public Radio regarding a story they aired on on September 11, 2009. The story was called "...
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We had a wonderful discussion this morning of Micah 5:1-6 . This is a passage cited in Matthew 2:6, naming Jesus as the one who fulfilled t...
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