See It Better
Here’s some of the best advice I have on worry. First, don’t be
afraid to face the facts of life. It is not negative to understand that
the winters always come. Don’t be faked out. Don’t clip the word
impossible out of the dictionary. Sure, the Bible says all things are
possible. But I don’t really understand all that means. My
daughters ask me, “Have you ever tried putting toothpaste back in
the tube?” Don’t say I don’t want to hear the problem, I don’t want
to see the difficulty, don’t show me the weeds, don’t say anything
negative, only see the positive. That’s foolish. There is a thin line
between positive thinking and kidding yourself. And remember
there is also a thin line between faith and folly.
Here is the key. Humans have a unique ability to see it as it
is, and they also have the ability to see it better than it is. One is
called fact; the other is called faith. Faith you develop - facts you
acquire. The facts you acquire are essential. It’s like belief; you
constantly must find facts to support your belief. Faith says I will
move mountains. It doesn’t say I will move mountains if someone
gives me a bulldozer, I will move a mountain if they will build me a
road up there, if the weather’s nice, if they give me a shovel. Faith
just says I will move mountains. Faith doesn’t ask for a result to
prove its existence. Faith is because it is. And remember people
die for faith. And some people give up everything they own, their
life, for faith.
Many years ago over in Vietnam a Buddhist monk did a very
clever thing. He did the ultimate in political dissent. He burned
himself to death. That toppled the government. That was faith.
Totality begets totality. Here is a good prayer: “Help me to see it as
it is, and help me to see it better than it is. And then inspire me to
act.”