The tragic sensibility says there is nothing more beautiful in this world than the individual’s struggle against long odds, even as death awaits him.
Robert Kaplan
The world seems to be a tragic place these days. At times there doesn’t seem to be anything to look forward to. There are angry words that fill the airwaves and spill across the transmission lines that end up on our screens and devices. And there are those that want to hold accountable every last person when there is no common or level ground.
It also seems that if you have any positive view of the world these days that you too might be persecuted for not seeing the world as it truly is. If you can’t join in on the berating then there must be something wrong with you. At the least, if you are hopeful then you are drowned out by the cries for reinvention.
But hope abides despite all this. Hope must be balanced…however, it must also be allowed to exist and thrive and propagate. Hope is not by definition naive. Hope is indeed part of the human condition as much as despair.
In spite of sin, there is redemption. In the face of vice, there is virtue. In the presence of despair, there is hope. In the shadows of the cross, there is the empty tomb.
To be sure, we are called to live life with our eyes wide open. But our sensibility should be molded by hope as much as tragedy. While we shouldn’t be starry-eyed fools, neither should we be cynical operators.
Dr. Tod Worner – wordonfire.org
Peace!
