Four Mile Post October 2011

Immanuel Kant was a 17th century German philosopher who lived a life of discipline. The people of the town said they could “set their clock” by the regularity of his afternoon walks. What they did not know was that the keeper of the cathedral clock set the time according to when Kant ventured out. And what nobody could imagine was that Kant himself ventured out when the clock chimed the hour! What a confused town?

I am afraid that this silly anecdote is repeated in more serious ways in our lives as well. Where do you and I get our bearings? Who is our anchor? Where do we get our sense of “what time it is?” I am a news junkie and I am often perplexed by the circuitous “steering” I get from the news media. One pundit says, “We are in a double dip recession,” and everyone begins to curtail their spending, companies stop hiring, banks stop landing, and we end up in a double dip recession. Who sets the time?

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