Looking Up

At the edge of an old town square was a tall clock tower that chimed every hour and on the half hour. Throughout the day people would glance up at the clock and check the time to see if their watches were correct. This helped people stay coordinated with each other for appointments, meetings, and their daily activities. Even with this helpful asset some townspeople would complain, couldn’t the town lower the clock, so it is not so high up to look at? Others chimed in, why can’t the town lower the clock to eye level and make it more accessible to fix? Still others would question, is the clock on the tower always right since it recently chimed a thirteenth strike rather than one. Some people thought the prior hours must be called into question given one wrong strike is one too many and perhaps all the strikes could be wrong. The noisy clock watchers were so persuasive that the town council held a meeting and made a decision to lower the clock. Then, once lowered, people noticed the clock was wrong more often than their watches. They started to demand the clock be readjusted too often and soon the clock broke. The townspeople no longer cared if the clock was being maintained so it was dismantled and thrown away as trash. Traditions like that old clock in the tower and its chimes are rapidly being destroyed because we find it inconvenient to look up and ask why the clock tower was created in the first place. Clock towers had been built since antiquity, initially without faces and solely as striking clocks with bells to call the surrounding community to work or worship. As they became more common designers added a dial on the outside of a tower so that townspeople could read them. This gave townspeople a sense of time and place. Those few who were deaf could now see the time. Kim Monson Show Sponsor Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Today, we are so used to having our eyes fixated on our phones, tablets, and computers for information, it causes us to miss the opportunity to have meaningful interactions with each other. We miss the human connection of looking up at each other and engaging in shared interests and ideas. There are places where people can connect with each other such as in Toastmasters. In my Toastmasters club we practice public speaking and listening by hearing fellow members inform, inspire, persuade, and entertain by speaking and telling stories that make a point. We practice the oral tradition of rhetoric which can have a powerful connection between people if a speaker can transfer their emotion to their audience. I often practice my Toastmasters speeches while driving. When I do so I must still look up and forward through the windshield, otherwise I will crash. When you watch a movie or TV, you must look up and forward to see the screen or you miss the story. When you fly a kite or stargaze into the night sky you must look up and forward. Why then do some reject the traditions that brought us to the point of looking up and forward? Why is the old way perceived as bad and the new way better? Why do we let the noisy few rule the day? I embrace technology and new innovations which make our lives better. I am looking forward to seeing how artificial intelligence will enhance our standard of living. I am by no means a Luddite. Yet, for me nothing is better than actual intelligence, having a conversation with an actual person, and looking in their eyes during a dialog. I relish reading the expression on their faces and exploring ideas that are worthy of looking into, looking up to, looking forward to. There have always been those who want convenience or to take the easy path. I question whether they are seeking knowledge (information) or wisdom (prudence)! We have become so affluent in our society whereby patience, persistence, piety have become elastic and malleable. Our social norms and culture are rapidly changing and those who wish to control the boundaries of what is acceptable keep pushing the Overton Window. The situation we now find ourselves in reminds me of the fool that eats too much at a buffet and blames the restaurant for offering an abundance of food to choose from. Finding himself uncomfortably full, he points at others to blame for his gluttony. He does not have the discipline of self-mastery. As election season intensifies and the noise gets louder, as nations battle each other while not respecting the rights of others, and as the old things and ways are continually being replaced, my challenge to you is take time to look up and see what is true, good, and beautiful. It takes effort to seek objectively higher things and that is why we need more clock towers to keep us grounded while looking up. https://kimmonson.com/featured_articles/looking-up/?vgo_ee=Jsy965JEx2YnsoYAu5yUJl%2BnjqJQKQAGdgUvmnvyZyEdTok7nSIrGOYJ%3ASlVcTxY1RxZqo5qP19jFwaXVukQ1BGUQ