Reverence is a key component of a happy and balanced life, and it also forms the backbone of a healthy and cooperative society. But unfortunately, reverence is largely absent in modern society. There's a pervasive lack of reverence for other people, for the earth, for spiritual knowledge, for life, and for ourselves. Reverence is gratitude and respect for the whole of creation and for one's humble position within that great system. Reverence means patience in forming judgments. Reverence means recognition for the contributions and value of different individuals in one's community. Reverence means recognizing the value of other communities with differing ideologies. Reverence is generosity of spirit. Reverence is selflessness.
Imagine a world of reverence.
There is no violence to the earth. Imagine how clean the air is. There is no violence between people. Imagine how peacefully conflict is resolved. Imagine how people do business. Imagine how they recreate. Imagine how they worship--their lives are a continual practice of worshiping the sacred.
I like reverence, don't get me wrong, but I think that reverence is only one element to a balanced life. Another part of life is passion, which is what makes us human. Just because passion may seem like the opposite of reverence, it isn't bad in and of itself, it just has to be channeled correctly. For instance, can you imagine going to a football game of people being reverent?
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that passionate people are inherently more outspoken so they overwhelm and dominate. And when some of these passionate people incorrectly channel their emotions, they give passion a bad rapp.
I agree with you that passion and reverence are both essential parts of a balanced life. But I also believe that reverence is appropriate for a football game. I'm not talking about fold your arms reverence per se. I'm talking about respect. Football players and fans with respect will play and cheer with sportsmanship. They won't cheat. They won't behave inappropriately on or off the field. They just go out and play hard to beat the other team in an honorable way.
ReplyDeleteReverence for one another.
ReplyDeleteThere is a pervasive lack of reverence for one another in our society. Why? I think we fail to recognize who we are and whose we are. We need to have reverence and charity for the people we associate and come in contact with.
"Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy is almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat- the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself is truly hidden." -C.S Lewis Weight of Glory.
Imagine what the world would be like if we treated one another with reverence for being children of God.