/23

I was wondering how to address the next topic when an unbelievably pertinent example arrived while I was reading an Internet forum.

A customer was complaining vociferously that a lamp bought on a European holiday had been broken by a workman from the company. They were distraught arguing that it must be replaced and that the company would need to send someone to the town and location to buy them a new one. Some stories are so strange you wouldn’t dare make them up.

One the major shifts in Learning to See properly is to learn the subtle art of detachment. As for Tom (fictitious name) he was obviously deeply attached to this lamp. Unhealthily investing his emotions in a lamp. It is a danger faced by all. 

This deep inner yearning for the other has to find a home and an expression in our lives. When we are ignorant of the reality we are asked to seek out and see, we can easily channel that energy into almost anything else. In this case an over attachment to a lamp. For others it might be a drive for wealth, for status, for ambition, for success, for fame, fill out your own list, it will come easily. It can also take a more destructive path where our unhappiness and discontent create a vacuum to be filled with something we use to try to remove our existential pain. Some turn regularly to alcohol or other mind altering products to ease what cannot be eased, except temporarily. Perhaps even wasting time dreaming how perfect life will be when the lottery is won. Again you can add your own list easily.

What many people do not see is that such pursuits are a form of idolatry, where an earthly desire takes the place of true desire that should be focussed on the Divine, on the spiritual, on the seeking of God.

When we learn to see we are guided to see the futility of possessions and of striving after the fleeting passing treasure offered to us in life. We are no longer defined, owned or motivated by success or possessions. They are relegated to their rightful place in life. They are seen to be of no lasting value, that they serve only practical purposes. We need a seat, so we own a chair. Does it really matter what kind as long as its form serves its purpose.

Learning to detach ourselves from all around us allows us complete freedom to be at peace. To be content with whatever our lot in life may happen to be, to find joy in the reality of life itself, only then can we be truly happy. Only then, is life ordered as it should be.

The correct ordering of life comes when we focus our whole being outward to the needs of others and that only flows from an understanding of God and from what He wants from us. Once we get the bedrock in place we can build a lasting home and see the reality of our existence.

That sense of detachment must also be applied to the internal life. We must be detached from our past life, its memories, pains, hurts and problems. Why carry past burdens when nothing can alter what has already been. We cannot go back and rewrite events nor can we in truth place our hope in future plans for they are are as easily shattered as a holiday purchase.

We must try to live now.

It is important to keep our earthly life in perspective. Time passes quickly for we live for such a fleeting moment we are barely here at all. Everything passes and moves on, we cannot afford the luxury of being attached to items and ideas that do not and cannot survive.

Detachment allows us to be free of all the pitfalls we face in life, and frees us to focus on God. Yet every part of what we term our human nature will try to lead us down selfish and self centred paths that ultimately amount to nothing at all.

If the thought of being  completely detached from all that surrounds you causes you difficulties then slow down until you are able to see better, for our calling is to be free of anything that ties us down to this earthly existence.

A radical teaching of Jesus was of course that in order to love God fully we have to be prepared  leave father, mother, brother, wife, husband, children behind, to follow him. Again it is about the ordering of our lives, not a carte blanche to walk away from those we love. 

Life falls clearly into the divine order when we put God first. Everything else then falls into its proper place. All this comes as naturally as breathing, when we learn to see.

Is it time for you to pause and reflect on where you are and how well you can see?