The Entire Thought

Our Vision of the Future


When the blind man got his sight, his whole life changed. And his new life depended on his new vision of the world. Vision gives direction.
When the settlers moved westward, killing the buffalo and chasing the Indians from their land, the Indians were forced to react. The land had belonged to their ancestors since forever, and the buffalo was their mainstay for food and supplies. Different tribes dealt with the crisis according to two different visions.
Chief Many Wars had a vision of the buffalo being driven into a deep hole and then cows coming out of the hole. He interpreted that to mean that the buffalo would never come back but would be replaced by the cows of the white man. So, he allied his tribe with the settlers.
Chief Sitting Bull had a vision of the white man leaving and the buffalo returning. He interpreted that to mean a defeat of the white man. So he fought them, rallying the tribes with the famous Ghost Dance to ensure
victory.
History records the sad results. Chief Sitting Bull was captured and killed; Chief Many Wars was granted refuge on a small remnant of his ancestral land. What history does not ask is whether it is better to die fighting for freedom or to languish on a reservation.
Catholics are responding to a changing, invading world in different ways. Their response is a function of their vision of the future. Some people see a bright future in which the old church will regain its past glory and power. They want a return to the traditions that used to work. But other Catholics think that in spite of Ghost Dances, Latin Masses and novenas, the buffalo will not return. Traditional Catholics are rightly concerned that if we ally ourselves too closely with secular culture we will be absorbed and lose our identity. Progressive Catholics rightly fear that if we do not relate with secular culture we will become irrelevant. They look at groups like the Amish and think: “That is nice for them but not much use to the world.”
It is a dilemma, but we have more options than our native Indian friends. They could only fight the invading culture or give in to it. But we know that even if the buffalo does not come back, Jesus will.
When final victory is absolute, minor setbacks or even defeats are absorbed, small successes are muted. Nothing is either demonized or divinized. For instance, science is neither a sacred cow that saves us nor a golden calf that replaces God. Mass media can corrupt culture or expand it to the masses. Sexual expression can be
energizing or narcotizing. Technology can free us or enslave us. Money can make us miserly or magnanimous. The modern world can do many things —but what it won’t do is go away.
You and I do not have that much time to formulate our personal vision of how God relates with the world. There are as many views as there are people, but we have basically three options: We may envision God as a distant Creator who made the world and then leaves it free to work out its own destiny. We may envision a God who comes from heaven to intervene in the world now and then according to God’s wishes or our prayers. We may envision a God who is engaged with the world every second of every day.
Our vision of God’s relationship with the world helps us formulate a vision of our church. Above all, our vision of the future determines our life in the present.

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