Like Children Lost In The Market Place

While making decision, policy, or voting one of the major issues is lack of clarity. Not sure about what we want, or where we want to go, etc. We typify the words from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. Luke 7: 31-35 addresses the issue of clarity—being sure of what you want or where you want to go. Jesus says that this generation is like children in the market place: play music, they don't dance; play dirges, they don't mourn. They demonise people who are strict and austere; and they call people who are friendly and moving around with all as glutton and cheap. A deeper look makes it clear that the real concern is not what is out there, but what is not in there with the people to make up their mind—clarity.

Debashis Chatterjee, a leadership speaker and author of many books on leadership, including the book Break Free, asks in his book, One Minute Wisdom, What is clarity? He has an interesting understanding: "Clarity is fewer thoughts per minute." It is a journey from a cluttered, confused mind where everything is piled up to a clear and committed mind. A cluttered mind is like a drawer filled with too many loose socks—you never find a matching one when you need it.

Arundhati Roy, the author of the book Mother Mary Comes to Me, says that with social media and the unending flow of information through varied media bombarding us with too much information, our minds are not equipped to process so many thoughts. So when we have to make a decision or vote, or in policy making, we go find shortcuts, we fall back on our biases and prejudices, we just go by popular opinion and the WhatsApp university. Noah Harari in his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century corrects Francis Bacon, who had said in the 16th century that 'knowledge is power', saying: "In a world deluged by irrelevant information, clarity is power."

If we lack clarity in a spiritual, moral, intellectual life we would be like children lost in a market. A lot seems to be happening, but when we return back to our individual cells, we feel bankrupt and empty.

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