Shifting Perspectives

A couple of days ago there was a 4.0 magnitude earthquake in southern Missouri — not big enough to do any damage, but a reminder that the plates that make up the earth’s crust are constantly shifting. Friction can slow down this shifting, leading to a buildup of pressure over long periods. When the force of movement finally overcomes the friction, sections of the crust suddenly break or become displaced, releasing the pent-up pressure in the form of seismic waves.

Like the earth, humans undergo a constant shifting in our perspectives and our plans. We, too, often try to put on the brakes when we sense that changes are occurring. Eventually, however, something so dramatic happens that we have no choice but to alter our perspectives.

An example is when the first full photo of earth, nicknamed “The Big Blue Marble,” was taken on December 17, 1972, by the American crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft. For the first time humans were able to grasp the beauty, fragility, and wholeness of our common home from the perspective of space, and we responded by accelerating the environmental movement. A more dramatic seismic event occurred when George Floyd was killed by a police officer on May 25, 2020, ripping the scab off the wound of racism in the United States. This event jolted us into an awareness of how widespread racism is and how much suffering it causes and has led to ongoing efforts to address deeply ingrained racism through reform of policing, our judicial and educational systems, and our immigration policies.

Jesus constantly invited us to widen our limited human perspectives and look at life through the eyes of God, who reverences everything that lives and invites us to do the same. When we allow ourselves to experience the small shifts that call us to change our way of thinking and being and respond with patience and trust instead of resistance, we can live more joyful and peaceful lives and avoid the trauma of seismic changes that feel so overwhelming.