Mt 8:5-11 The Wise and ChildlikeTurning to the disciples in private, Jesus said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
I do it and I shouldn't. I spend way too much time in front of a computer screen and not enough time in front of my window. I spend way too much time working and not enough time reflecting. I spend way too much time using a computer program and not enough time as a human organism. What am I subjecting my eyes and ears to hear all day long?
A while back I took a trip up to Wisconsin to visit a priest friend. On the flight over there I sat next to man that was dabbling on his iPad. I glanced over and saw a very interesting application. He was initiating a kind of GPS program that allowed him to track our flight in real time. Curious, I asked my temporary neighbor why he got that GPS application. He told me that he thought it would be interesting to track our actual flight. He also liked how he could see our flight in relation to the surrounding area.
At first, it was very interesting and I followed along. But I got bored after about five minutes and so I decided to sit back and read once again my book, Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton.
Thirty minutes later, I glanced at my fellow passenger and noticed he had turned off the application and was now watching what looked like a documentary on planes and flying. After about an hour of that, he turned off his iPad and was starring out his window. It seemed to me as though he had had enough of our flight in the virtual world and was more interested in observing our flight in the real world.
Life is much more interesting when lived rather than observed. It is much more interesting to play football than to watch it. It is much more interesting to watch football live rather than to watch it on a flat screen TV. It is very interesting to see a 3D movie. It is remarkable to participate in a 4D movie!
The wise try to imitate reality. The childlike enjoy the real thing. Science classes were much more interesting to me when I had the chance to go outside, touch a tree, pull its bark and lick it! Yes, I had an awesome science teacher who understood children better than the experts!
I don’t think the man sitting next to me would have the guts to tell me, “You know what…I thought this program would interest me. But in the end, it bores me!”
Isn’t this the case with all programs? We buy them. We use them. We get bored of them! Kids do not have a hard time telling their parents or teachers that such-and-such is boring! Yes, they can spend hours and hours watching TV or sitting in front of a computer. But if they were given the chance to go outside and play stickball, they would be out there in a heartbeat.
What I am saying is simple: We have a world. I was born in it (I got through all the barriers my neighbors put in it), and now it is time to enjoy it! Is it so hard to see that God created it? Is that so hard to hear? It shouldn’t be! It should actually be music to my ears and stimulate wonder in my thoughts. It’s not hard to see how exceptional life is. I find the human race more entertaining and more fascinating than the creatures in the movies Super 8 or Battle LA! I find life more thrilling up close and personal than at thirty thousand feet. Life is better than a computer simulation for it is constantly changing along with me.
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see” for all of our imitations cannot compare to the beauty and enormity of the real thing. Blessed are the wise that are childlike.
