When I see the blind and wretched state of man, when I survey the whole universe in its dumbness and man left to himself with no light, as though lost in this corner of the universe, without knowing who put him there, what he has come to do, what will become of him when he dies, incapable of knowing anything, I am moved to terror, like a man transported in his sleep to some terrifying desert island, who wakes up quite lost and with no means of escape. Then I marvel that so wretched a state does not drive people to despair.
I see other people around me, made like myself. I ask them if they are any better informed than I, and they say they are not. Then these lost and wretched creatures look around and find some attractive objects to which they become addicted and attached. For my part I have never been able to form such attachments, and considering how very likely it is that there exists something besides what I can see, I have tried to find out whether God has left any traces of himself.
-Written by the great scientist and Christian Blaise Pascal
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that we may live deeply in your heart.
May God blesss us with anger at injustice,
oppression and exploitation of people
so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain,
rejection, starvation and war so that we may reach out our hand to
comfort them and turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe we can make
a difference in this world.
-Franciscan Benediction
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