When I was in college in the 1950’s, I took courses in history, earth sciences, and logic while studying poetry and art appreciation. I also enjoyed my classes in movie and television production. Those were the days of black and white TV. We painted our theatrical sets in shades of gray as we prepared for what they would look like on the TV screen. I learned about the function of fixed length camera lenses: wide angle, medium and close-up. The lenses were mounted on a turret in front of the large box-shaped camera sitting on top of a pedestal with wheels, enabling it to be rolled into an advantageous position in the studio. Later I was introduced to zoom lenses that replaced the fixed length ones. Visual and audio production have advanced since those college days.
In those television production classes I learned the importance of framing, focus, sequence, filters and audience orientation. I learned framing is important, because it selects out of the larger context what is to be included and what is to be excluded from view. The focus of the lens and subsequent attention allow selected information to be interpreted more vividly. Filters help eliminate distractions and clarify the object of our attention. I learned stories are always part of a communication process, so attention to sequence and context are important for understanding the narrative. Otherwise people can get lost or confused by the information they are receiving. Keeping the audience oriented to what is happening is critical when telling any story.
As we prepare for Thanksgiving Day, it occurs to me that we need to be mindful of our framing, focus, filters, sequence and orientation. By that I mean we need to expand our vision beyond what has been habitually excluded from our attention by the ways we have framed our experiences. Expanding and reframing what we pay attention to is called for. Events occur around us, people do things that benefit us, the natural world provides us with an abundance of unearned resources that enable us to fully live our lives.
It is time for us to focus, with an “attitude of gratitude,” on responding to the gifts of supportive kindness, generosity, and love that we have received. Our lives are connected sequentially to one another from conception to birth and throughout our lives. We need, and are dependent upon, each other. What we do, or do not do, affects others, as we have graphically learned by witnessing the infectious path of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to be careful to not filter out the stories of social unrest over systemic racism, massive wildfires, hurricanes and floods that have endangered so many homes and lives. They are all part of the context in which we are living. With gratitude we need to appreciate the compassionate attention being provided by family and friends through phone calls, text messages, notes and volunteer efforts. People are stepping forward to deliver essentials to vulnerable shut-ins. Neighbors are making sure people are remembered in their physical isolation.
It is important to be thankful for the knowledge we have received from the scientific world and for the enormous efforts made by so many people to protect one another from the spread of the virus. We need to be thankful to the researchers who have built the knowledge base the medical world depends upon to be able to care for and protect so many of us today.
We need to attend to the stories we live by that help us embrace an understanding of what is happening in our lives and how to live with one another. For those of us who are people of faith, our faith stories provide a framework to help us stay oriented to the larger picture in which we can find purpose and comfort. These stories provide us with the language to express some of our gratitude. In the Judeo-Christian understanding, it is the God of love who has brought us into being and enables us to provide essential loving support for one another. Our Creator is the source of our being and our hope. Each of us, as mindful recipients of life-giving and enhancing compassionate love find it is appropriate to approach events with an “attitude of gratitude” especially during this time of Thanksgiving. We give thanks to the people in our lives, known and unknown, who have provided the love, caring and support needed to sustain us.
Ultimately, it is appropriate to give thanks to the Source of our Being for giving us life, enabling our wellbeing and opening up ways for us to make this a more harmoniously peaceful world. The Bible has many passages urging us to be thankful. In Psalm 107:1 we read, “O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good, for God’s steadfast love endures forever.” May this Thanksgiving Day be another occasion for intentionally sharing our gratitude with loved ones and our Creator.
Rev. Rick Mawson is a retired minister of the United Church of Christ and a Marriage and Family Therapist.
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November 22, 2020 at 05:32AM
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Celebrate by framing and looking through the lens of gratitude - Greeley Tribune
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