<\/p>\n
\u201cHold every moment sacred. Give each clarity and meaning, each the weight of thine awareness, each its true and due fulfillment\u201d (Thomas Mann).<\/p>\n
THERE IS TOO MUCH FUZZINESS IN OUR IDEAS. What should be sharp and clear is often indistinct and cloudy. We need to bring some clarity to the business of living \u2014 and also of loving.<\/p>\n
Clarity in our thinking.<\/em> Since our actions are the consequence of our thinking, it\u2019s essential that what we think be as clear as possible. Sometimes, however, we don\u2019t work very hard on this goal, even concerning vital topics. Alfred North Whitehead once spoke of a particular philosophy as \u201can adventure in the clarification of thought.\u201d If you know the philosophy of which he spoke, you may doubt whether it made anything clearer, but still, his expression, \u201can adventure in the clarification of thought,\u201d is interesting. How long has it been since you embarked on an adventure like that? How recently has your thinking on a significant subject been clarified?<\/p>\n Clarity in our relationships.<\/em> Sometimes our relationships lack quality because they\u2019re ill-defined. We haven\u2019t made the effort to know the other person clearly, nor have we given them the chance to know us clearly \u2014 so the relationship is foggy. Our interactions would improve if we clarified them with openness, humility, and courage.<\/p>\n Perhaps we find it difficult to relate to others clearly because we don\u2019t experience things clearly ourselves. And maybe that\u2019s because so much of our experience now is \u201csynthetic.\u201d Cut off from the clarity of the natural world, our minds are fed primarily by the flickering images on our digital devices, big and little screens alike. As wonderful as these media are, they can never present more than a vague representation of original reality. Out of touch with sharply defined reality itself, it\u2019s no surprise that our thinking falls out of focus. We would do well to \u201cclear up\u201d our intellect and our imaginations more often by directly experiencing the creations that call to us \u201cout there\u201d \u2014 beyond the doors of our dwellings. Things that are clear in themselves can help to make our minds more clear.<\/p>\n There is a poignancy in all things clear, Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n
In the stare of the deer, in the ring of a hammer in the morning.
Seeing a bucket of perfectly lucid water
We fall to imagining prodigious honesties.
(Richard Wilbur)<\/p>\n