July 10, 2021

We have all experienced the fight or flight response that anthropologists say is a remnant of our lizard brains.  In a moment of fear – faced with a tiger in the jungle, a bully on the playground, or some memory of trauma – we instinctively fall into the destructive cycle of lashing out against the other then hiding ourselves in shame, but that is no way to live!  Jesus, who came to bring life and who instructs us to not succumb to fear, offers us an alternative vision for how we might approach such situations.  Instead of putting up our fists to fight,  he invites us to “take up the cross” in a posture of vulnerability and openness.  Instead of running away in flight, he invites us to “follow him” steadily and confidently into a real future filled with hope.  Such a pattern of “take up your cross and follow me,” therefore, cannot but be a healing balm for a twisted and bipolar version of our humanity.  Indeed, we shall learn to dance gracefully through the most complicated and seemingly dire situations in life.  We shall bear witness to the transforming power of God through our own inner conversion.  We shall reveal a Christic truth that is more primordial and cuts more deeply than our lizard brains.  We shall give glory to God in every encounter.  Ave Crux, Spes Unica.