I like the phrase “getting the big picture.” It makes me think of the difference between watching a Penguins game on television or in person. While the television version lets you see the skill of individual players, being able to see the entire ice rink at once allows you to appreciate the larger strategy and physical demands of the sport.
Getting the big picture is also an important quality for faith and life. Jesus often “changed” how people viewed a scene before them and opened their eyes to the larger vision of God’s realm. This happened when he told the disciples to let the children come to him, saying that they were examples of the spirit of the Kingdom of God. It happened when he stopped the mob from stoning the woman and had them mentally take a step back by asking “Who among you is without sin?”
Seeing the big picture is a critical part of living lives committed to social justice and righteousness. We can only “love our neighbors as ourselves” if we take a step back and consider how we would wish to be treated if our positions were reversed. Similarly, we can only be sure that our laws and actions are just if we step back and consider how others beside us are affected by these decisions.
The writer and philosopher Albert Camus was once asked about whether violence is appropriate if it is being used to accomplish noble ends. I agree with his response that acts of terrorism or torture destroy the very goals they are supposed to serve. He put it this way: “Although it is historically true that values such as the nation and [democracy] cannot survive unless one fights for them, fighting alone cannot justify them. The fight must itself be justified and explained in terms of [these core] values.”(Algerian Chronicles) That is another way to say that the ends do not justify the means, especially if the means being employed (lies, theft, torture, violence, murder) are antithetical to the larger values by which we hope the community lives.
Critics of this position denounce it as being too idealistic. They argue that you have to “fight fire with fire” when dealing with people who wish to explode bombs in public spaces or do other acts of terrorism against innocent civilians. Yet does not our use of “fire” only serve to scatter dangerous sparks onto the flammable kindling of troubled souls? Do we not fan the flames of terrorism and destruction if our acts are seen as not “walking the walk” of the democratic “talk” we talk?
At the heart of seeing the “big picture” is a faith value – namely, seeing everyone around us as a child of God. We step back enough so that we see those on the margins of our “photograph” – and so we can see the “game of life” in all its complexity and interconnectedness. The desire to have that type of vision is not being idealistic; it is being Christ-like. And such is always our goal as disciples of our Lord and Savior.