The Day I Turned Off The News

That Which You Gaze Upon, You Become

I quit watching the news fifteen years ago.

I do not remember what exactly caused me to turn it off, but as I sit here now and reflect, we were about five years past 9/11. Whatever sense of humanity and community we had discovered amongst ourselves on 9/12, it had slowly devolved into partisan politics, ideological division, and the dehumanizing of the "other." And while we were those ultimately accountable for what we were becoming, I noticed how the news media curated content to keep us angry and at odds, how it kept me angry and at odds.

There are these words of wisdom that ring perpetually true, whether it be thousands of years ago when first written, or in the aftermath of 9/11, or today- That which you gaze upon, you become.

When our source is anger, we will become angry. When we feast upon hatred, we will become hateful. Or conversely, when we reside in peace, we will become peaceful. When we choose a more generative path, we become generative, ourselves.

You can see the pattern.

That which we invite to be our emotional center can either ravage our spiritual well-being or bring us to life.

The same is true for how we see God. If we gaze upon a God that we believe is in short supply of mercy, limited in grace, and scarce in love, is that not what we will become ourselves?

However, if our constant gaze is kindness, how can we not become kinder toward ourselves and others? If our source is love, how can we not become more loving toward ourselves, other people, and our world? 

Question

1. Is that which you regularly gaze upon causing you to become bitter, angry, and hateful, or is it leading to a fuller and more generative life of kindness and love? 

Peace,

Brandon