I am flooded with information. Between news services on the web, RSS feeds, television, and conversations, there are ideas piling up on ideals and flooding even more ideas that I have not had time to understand. Life is an unending waterfall hitting my mind in ways I cannot control! I have long past the point of knowing what is useful and what is not. It is hard to discern what is fact versus myth. There are so many perspectives, viewpoints, and agendas, that I cannot see what is helpful and what is not.
It is easy to blame technology and the way we use the tools we have available. Candidly, the problem seems to have transcended every generation. I want to assume that everyone is well intentioned, even as I know that they are not. When I see how “it wasn't long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised: ‘If you're not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can't be saved.’” (Acts 15.1) I know, with hindsight, that a greater truth was missing. As obvious as it is now, I wonder what I am missing in the current flood.
I like the simplicity that comes in being in the moment. Animals know this well. Charlie and Mollie (our two dogs) only know the immediate. If it happened ten minutes before, they do not worry about it. Whatever it was, it is not relevant to the moment at hand.
I like the wonder that comes from looking for the positive. I may not be able to control how I make decisions. I can control where I give my attention. As I look for the positive, I find myself with hope. As I reach for what is helpful to me in the shadow of my priorities, I find myself moving forward. As I reach beyond where I am, I find myself growing into my values.
I use a filter to sift through the overwhelming information. The filter most helpful is one founded in compassion. It is expands with inclusiveness. It works with others.
