A Flash of Sanity

My friend Gary Wilson

In the past I've wasted too much time trying to figure other people and situations out. I have at times been "bothered" by the behaviors and choices of people. In my state of botheredness I have, in a pure a priori fashion, sought for logical conclusions as to why Person X is the way they are or does the things they do. I have worried about others in ways that are not good for either me or them.

This morning I realized: I am doing less of that. At least, I feel less obsessed by such things. I feel I care about people more while analyzing them less. It is my desire to do this. I also see the logic of this, which is:

1. I can scarcely understand the deep waters of my own heart (Proverbs 20:5).
2. Therefore, I should not expect to understand the deep waters of other peoples' hearts.

This, however, does make sense to me.

• The deeper we go into the human heart, the more we are all the same.
• As God moves into the deep waters of my own heart I am given God-insights into, not only myself, but into humanity.
• But this revelatory understanding does not come about by making others the object of my inquest. That is the point I am thinking of this morning.

Thomas Merton expresses it this way:

"A flash of sanity: the momentary realization that there is no need to come to certain conclusions about persons, events, conflicts, trends, even trends toward evil and disaster, as if from day to day, and even from moment to moment, I had to know and declare (at least to myself) that this is so and so, this is good, this is bad." (Merton, Thomas, A Year with Thomas Merton, Kindle Locations 2164-2166)

Does this mean, God, that I can leave it to you to figure other people out and focus on being searched-out myself and just loving others?

"Yes."