Awakened from Fantasy to Wonder!

The Wonder of the Faith is meant to wake us up from the fantasy of a world that lives as if there is no God.

When I was a boy, I remember seeing The Wizard of OZ on a color TV set for the first time.

Needless to say, I was mesmerized by the wonder of the change from black and white to color. I remember looking back at my mom on the couch and mouthing, “Wow!”

Still, I also remember being very sympathetic to the Cowardly Lion when Dorothy and her crew first encountered the Wizard. The effects of the head floating in the air, the smoke, and the fire were simultaneously scary and fun. In other words, I loved it!

We moderns have become used to astonishing special effects in a world increasingly caught up in the fantasy of “make-believe.”

A recent study suggested that this emphasis on fantasy slows maturity, especially in boys. Video games, Hollywood movies, stories that come to life on the screen, and even virtual reality goggles allow us to lose ourselves in the make-believe world.

Now, before you go and dismiss me as some Luddite fuddy-duddy, nothing could be further from the truth. But it’s also silly to ignore the unintended consequences of an addiction to the world of pretend. As usual, the wisdom of balance and sobriety gives us the path to escape the debilitating effects of too much sensationalism.

So, when we read today’s Gospel Lesson, you may fall into the trap of believing that these words are just more “make-believe,” but you’d be missing an essential insight into the power of reality to shake us awake from fantasy.

Look at Mark 13:24-31: