Frame of Mind

What do you see in this picture?

a) Uggh.  More dirty dishes to clean.
b) Yippee! Someone's been baking!
c) @#$%#! There goes my diet!

For those of you who answered "a", put down the dish cloth , set aside the broom, and take a deep breath.  Relax.  For those who answered "c", remember cyber-food has no calories.  For those who answered "b", good for you!  Way to have a positive frame of mind!  Or maybe you're just hungry.

But, seriously, how we look at life makes a difference.  A few weeks ago I posted a blog about the work of peace-making and some of you responded with some trepidation or despair that you could not possibly find the time to do more work.  Sometimes I don't realize how things sound until you respond.  I really wasn't intending to burden anyone with more things they should be doing.  I guess I was really thinking more about a frame of mind.  If we believe that peace is possible, if we believe there can be creative responses to age old problems, if we hold these things in our hearts and our minds then we will be changed.  When we change our frame of mind or our hearts then we will be open to it when opportunity comes for us to help work for peace and justice.  We will be open to hearing God's call when God calls us to action or prayer or generosity.  We might even rethink how we interact with other people in our lives
         or how we teach our children
                                         or how we vote.

The news is full of stories of woe.  The problems seem so big it is easy to become cynical.  It is crucially important to keep hope alive.  We can make a difference.  Good things and amazing transformations can happen.  I am not sure that I realized how all the negativity was affecting me until I read this article: http://www.worldvisionacts.org/victory_against_hunger  I was so energized by reading that the generosity of the past has radically reduced the suffering of today in at least this one case.  Being swamped with bad news, as we often are, can make us feel like it doesn't really make any difference what we do.  When hope is alive we can and will make a difference.

I am not talking here about close your eyes to the dark, sunshiny optimism.  The realities of the world are indeed harsh, very harsh.  But they are not without hope.  We need not feel defeated by despair.  We can look to the parts of this mess that indicate that someone is baking up some good and do what we can to support those parts of the world.  It will... it does make a difference.