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How often do we say, or think, or feel, “This planet is getting really crazy?” or “My day was insane”? How often do we hear people laugh when they say such things? A sense of humor is an enormous help in dealing with craziness, but insanity is also a serious matter. I’m not necessarily implying any diagnosis in psychological terms. It’s really a sense of cosmic insanity—that as a planet and a society we have lost our moorings. And the craziness gets inside us as individuals, too. Here’s my three-fold prescription.
First of all, truth. We all need meaning and purpose. We all need a way to answer the question, “Who am I?” And one way to answer that question in a way that is brimming with meaning and purpose is to establish as the core of our identity the truth that we are a son or daughter of God. Once that truth is firmly established as our core identity, all the rest of the craziness becomes peripheral and much easier to manage.
When I go door to door, and someone comes to open the door, I say to the man or woman, “I’m your neighbor Jeff, encouraging you in the faith that you are a son or daughter of God.” And then I fall silent and let them respond. If they want to talk a bit, we take it from there with no other agenda.
Next, beauty. Allow yourself to feel how wonderful it is to be a child of God, to enjoy beauty on new levels as you find joy walking amid the beauties of nature and finding healthy pleasures and uplifting ways of recreation.
Then goodness. When we act as a child of God along with others whom we see as children of God, we share the truth, beauty, and goodness that are transforming us. In this way we make a more effective contribution to the progress of sanity in our world.
