Do you find hope when you look around you reading “ the signs of the times?” We are meant to look at the world with clear eyes, to see what is happening, and be attentive. But this attention is of a particular type, it is not the attention of the scientist or the philosopher or the politician—though it can include those. It is an attention to the things of God.
Our view of God impacts our attitude of hope. A deist views of God, as distant and aloof, uninvolved with the world he has made. But Thomas Aquinas taught that God is in all things “by essence, presence, and power,” and that God providentially cares for every aspect of his creation. Therefore, we should expect to see signs of his presence and activity in nature, in history, and in human affairs.
Once we see, we are meant to speak. In a way, followers of Jesus are not looking at the signs of the times for their own benefit, but rather that they might share their prophetic perspective with everyone else. So look around, look with attention, look with the eyes of faith.
God is in all things “by essence, presence, and power.”
St Thomas Aquinas
Lord, thank you for calling me to attention, hopeful for a just world.
Smitten With Goodness 