2 min. read
Tragedy in the form of this past weekend’s mass shooting in Orlando, has become entirely too common. And the “public discourse” (a phrase I’m using ironically) that follows is so often disheartening.
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My social media streams quickly move from life updates to people espousing ideas about how to prevent such tragedy. And most of the ideas offered are fed by theoretical extremes. It gets so overwhelming I just ignore it for a few days. Supposedly, these ideas, often delivered with indignation and venom, have become our current way of “dialogue.” But so little of it is dialogue in the classical sense. It’s just noise.
When we don’t have words to say, or when emotions are so powerful that we should be careful what we say, maybe we should turn our words inward. Maybe we should meditate on something like the following before we speak.
O Jesus meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, Jesus.That others may be loved more than I,
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.–Cardinal Merry del Val
Of course I have opinions and deeply held convictions on the nature, purpose, and ramifications of such tragedies. But first, I must choose to humble myself so that when I decide to speak, I do so with goodness, truth, and beauty as my aim.
Maybe a posture of humility would better serve us while experiencing the full range of tragedy.
From a humble position we would walk through the grief, alone and together.
We would be better able to hear what others are truly saying.
And when we do speak, we would do so more charitably and generously and humbly.