Security cameras just catch the wrongdoers, right? This short advertisement by Coca-Cola reminds us that good thing are recorded too.
Daily we are bombed with messages of crisis, war, theft, hate, murder, etc… And while they certainly exist, we aren’t being told the whole story. I once heard the phrase: “A tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that grows.” Evidently, a tree crashing type scenario is certainly more likely to make it to the 9 o’clock news. But that leaves out, literally, a world of good which fails to make it past the editor’s desk.
The danger I see is when we begin to look at life through a kind of security camera lens, always on the lookout for wrongdoing. Perhaps some will disagree, but I believe that the good in the world outweighs the bad. At times, it may be more difficult to detect the good, like finding the wheat amongst the weeds. But I am certain that the wheat exists, and in great quantity! If not, why do apostolate? Why dedicate a life to helping someone that’s beyond help? Our faith reminds us that God’s grace transforms. Yet, it transforms that which is capable of being transformed. It does not destroy, rather it constructs upon the base of an intrinsically good nature, created in the image and likeness of God.
Discovering the good in the world –and above all, the goodness of the person–, meditating upon it, and holding it in our hearts, like Mary, is a crucial virtue and a source of great hope in our Christian lives and in our apostolate.
For this reason, I think it’s worth using the video in order to ask ourselves a few questions: How do I see the world? What sources affect how I see it? Through what type of lens do I judge it? Also, I would take advantage to explain the Catholic vision of the world according to a realism of hope.
Lastly, Pope Paul VI wrote a beautiful text in his opening speech at the second session of Vatican II on a very similar note (my translation):
“The world must know that the Church looks upon it with great love. She nurtures a sincere admiration towards the world and is moved by the candid purpose not to dominate it, but to serve; not to scorn, but to enhance its dignity; not to condemn it, rather offer it comfort and salvation.”
