One particular thing he said caught my interest and it was about Australian society. He said, that when he returned, arriving at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne, he was disappointed at the superficiality that he saw in Australian society, especially portrayed in the media. An example, he pointed out, was the media's pre-occupation with what Paris Hilton, Madonna and other celebrities were doing. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is suffering from appalling depravity and injustice.
What he said ringed true. The media does not portray reality as is. What is called 'reality tv' is not even such. The reality is not that Paris Hilton spent less than a month in jail, but rather, that children are in the prison of poverty. Our view of the world should extend beyond that of fame, fortune and celebrity- beyond the superficiality which plagues our minds and warps our collective perception of what is beautiful.
Our minds are being shaped by our absorption of media. Each typical day, in an urban setting, one is likely to receive, either consciously or sub-consciously, billions of codified messages, slowly conditioning us, our perception of the world. How does one fight it? How does one seek clarity amid such distortion, or truth amid such deceit?
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
I guess what Fr. Themi was trying to say is that we, as a society and individually, should not being subject to such conditioning of minds and warped perceptions of reality. I think he was trying to say that we must never forget the truth of love.
www.paradisekids4africa.org.au
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