Some Thoughts on Expectations and Truth in Today's Society

      You’re dead tired. Would you choose a 2-legged chair in which to collapse? Hardly! You’d know what to expect; you’d wind up on the floor! You assume the laws of nature will hold true, so you save yourself a tumble.

      Have you ever thought about how much we take for granted every day, how important it is that what we trust to happen actually does? Think about your reactions when your morning alarm doesn’t go off, your car won’t start, traffic lights malfunction, or your computer breaks down.

      It’s one thing when electronics disappoint us, but what about when a human does? A co-worker misses an important deadline on your project and doesn’t take it seriously. You look forward to meeting a friend for lunch and she cancels at the last minute with no apology. What if it happens a 2^nd time? After the 1^st time a little trust leaks out of the relationship. Happens again? The leak turns into a flow that can resist attempts at repair. As Louisiana author Mahogany SilverRain says, “Peace and trust take years to build and seconds to shatter.”

       Truth is intimately connected with trust, and society runs on this blend. We expect machines to do what the advertising says they’ll do. We expect shop & grocery clerks to know their craft and be helpful to customers. Public officials are supposed to serve the public. News outlets are supposed to tell us the truth about what is happening in our local and broader world.

                       

      This delicate fabric of truth and trust is facing major stresses today. The role of multiple sources, exaggeration, individual truth, fake news, plus an overall skepticism in the general public are combining to fray this relationship. It's hard to decipher what is true; the interconnected age we live in is so highly complex that answers to questions and solutions to problems are not simple. Add to this the fact the world is changing so rapidly that things true even a few years ago are not so straightforward now. No wonder there are pockets of people who only agree with things they think they already know, accepting nothing that contradicts their current belief system so often rooted in the past..

      All this raises for me a question as old as humankind, but made famous by Pontius Pilate: “What is truth?” It’s quite relevant in today’s social climate and raises a number of deeper questions:

·         Is truth black and white or can it be varied shades of grey?

·         Is truth absolute, the same in all times and places? If so, why do people so often disagree with each other?

·          Can truth be defined clearly?

·         How do you tell when something is true or a lie? Is there something in between?

      Because people build their lives on what they think is true, the ambiguity of truth in today’s climate makes it difficult to know whom or what to trust. Businessman and keynote speaker Stephen Covey says, “Trust is the glue of life…the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” If this is as true as it seems, what are the implications for Christians and other people of good will?

      Here are some bits of wisdom I ran across that I find helpful:

            The one who trusts in his own heart is a fool… (Prov. 28:26)

            Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. (William Shakespeare, “All’s Well that Ends Well”

            A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

                                    (English preacher Charles Spurgeon)

            Trust but verify. (American president Ronald Reagan)

            Trust not in ourselves but God. (2 Cor. 1:9)

      I conclude from all this that individuals of good will can help society recover from its current chaos by not taking a single source’s “truth” at face value.  Instead, each of us should tap into the wisdom of multiple sources, including tradition and a group larger than a handful of people. This process should include comparing this new “truth” with the universal truths from faith and morality that have endured for thousands of years. This is not easy because it takes work, but trying to be people of faith and hope has always been a challenge. I love this quote for its hopefulness:  “The deep roots never doubt spring will come.” (writer Marty Rubin)

Sr. Colleen Winston, OSB

Trust and Validate

Trust: faith, hope, reliance, expectation, confidence, dependence, custody, care, responsibility, protection.

Validation: substantiation, confirmation, legalization.

        This morning I learned a concrete lesson on how to sustain relationships from a gentleman who shared a practice he and his wife have shared over their years of marriage. Without being specific about what they do, he remarked that each year he and his wife exchange or express trust and validation. Trust I get. No relationship exists, grows or deepens without trust. That’s the glue or practice that protects common endeavors or works, such as, monastic life, school communities, parishes, work sites, etc., etc., etc. 

       The more I have thought about validation the more I got an understanding and appreciation of what that can mean on the practical level. Validation means more than just a renewal or remembrance of what I did over fifty years ago. The image that helped me appreciate the use and act of validating, is the difference between the one-time public signing of my name on my profession document in 1962 and the community’s annual renewal of vows once a year during our retreat. 1962 was a leap of faith and a hope that I’d be happy and faithful to my choice until the end. This August during our renewal of profession I will remember to do more than renew. I will validate and confirm what I really did in 1962. 

      Sr. Mary Catherine Wenstrup, OSB

BITS and PIECES of LIFE

Family member’s breast cancer scare turns out to be a false alarm.

Death of 95 year old cousin is the last of the “Akron gang.”

The ritual of a military funeral is inspiring.  It has a certain sacredness about it.

     With smiling enthusiasm, Patty becomes a postulant.

WELCOME!

     

October dawns with crisp air and a panoply of color.

Tomato plants to pull—fried green tomatoes to enjoy.

         Single mom spends herself to feed, clothe and pay bills for young family of five.

The desire for life keeps a Sister returning for treatment.

Elderly Sisters get life from “pop” visits from family and friends.

         Is “practicing Catholic” defined by one’s contributions to the Church?

A young nephew searches for a job.

A niece and her husband look forward to having a family.

Assembling photo albums is a treat, reviewing life in its stages.

Printed photos stop where cell phones begin.

         Life begins anew for two sisters moving from a small house to the Monastery.

         Four sisters celebrate 60 years of vowed Benedictine life at Evening Prayer.

The original Benedictine Foundation in the United States closes with a yard sale of belongings.

         It is a time to hope.

         A time to dream.

         A time to trust in the loving God who sustains us.

                   Sr. Kathleen Ryan, OSB