What response does the word ‘unfamiliar’ bring to mind?
… Fear? Discomfort? Adventure? Interest? Excitement? …
Change seems to be all around us. We see it in the yearly change of the seasons, the growing of families, the varying life cycles of the ecosystems, as well as continual personal growth, and the development of new paradigms and perspectives. Is change an enemy, ally, or just a neutral factor? Is it more likely that it happens because of us, or in spite of us? Take the analogy of a sailboat: does it move because we put up the sail, or because the wind blew? Does the sail have to be made of a particular material for the vessel to move? Certainly, some intentionality may be necessary in this decision, but then again, how important is perfection for some simple forward motion?
Let’s take a moment to ponder the role our personal agency plays in this. If the world is a stage, as the poet Shakespeare describes, then there must be multiple narratives playing out at all times, with the characters weaving in and out of each other’s stories. Plots and subplots change and evolve. Is my only option to just blindly play my character’s role, or is there an element of choice involved? Can I modify my own drama and choose to step out of the comfortable rhythm of the story I know and love so well? Reflect on the example of Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) in the movie, The Matrix (1999). At a critical moment of decision, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) offers Neo a blue pill and a red pill. If he opts for the blue pill, Neo chooses safety, comfort, life to continue as he has always known it. On the other hand, if he chooses the red pill, his eyes will be opened to the world beyond the illusion, to the unfamiliar, to life on the edge, to a reality that is, as of yet, hidden from him. What if we all have that choice? What if I would step out of the predestined plot of my story and become alive? What is the plot of the story I have been living in, and what opportunities might open up if I step into unchartered territory?
Jesus is quoted with the famous line: “The Truth will set you free”. But, you argue, truth is elusive. What even is ‘truth’? Is there a Truth that is the same for everyone, that underlies race, gender, religion, background, economic status? Is there a Truth that can indeed “set us free”? Consider the following themes that many of us find ourselves living in: rationality, fear, mindless transaction, narcissism, result-driven competition. These contractive realities seem to prevail in our old story lines. Glimpses of new possibilities, however, reveal a way that is daring, expansive, love-based, celebrating process and growth, understanding the natural reciprocation of giving, and ultimately realizing that the universe, our home, is designed for the good of all. These are portions of that freedom-bringing Truth.
This new story I describe, however, is not simply a replacement of the old story, but rather an expansion, a broadening. Consider a set of nesting dolls: when you hold the smallest one in your hand, it seems complete and whole. Place it inside the next one, and it once again is complete and whole. This in turn fits into the next size up, continuing on to the biggest one. Likewise with our understanding of the world. The paradigms I currently hold seem complete and whole, but I know from past experience, that there is always a bigger ‘whole’ to know. The adventure is always before us: to learn, to grow, to dare, to step out, to become whole.
When Jesus walked the earth, he showed people this new way. He didn’t force it on them. But he also wasn’t afraid to tell them, although a lot of what he said and did blew their minds and was certainly outside of their ordinary day-to-day life. He knew that the Truth he brought was the way to freedom. Interestingly, if you look back in history to 30 AD, many aspects of society were comparable to current times and conditions, including people of all backgrounds, walks of life, and belief systems. In fact, as volatile as American society seems now in our 2024 election year, back in Jesus’ day tensions were similarly high between Jews and Romans, Pharisees and lay people, tax collectors and fishermen. Would anyone be open to the new way of living that Jesus presented? “Give not only your shirt, but your tunic as well.” “Love your enemies. Do good to those that hate you.” These words were backwards to the laws of Moses that the Jewish people lived by: “An eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth.” Jesus, however, did not come to lay out a bunch of new rules for the people to follow, but rather to demonstrate and explain the natural laws of life. Living by the promptings of the heart, in a way of love, trust, and daring, reaps the natural consequences of freedom, love, connection, relationship.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and do as you please.” St. Augustine’s clever twist to this well-known line is often misinterpreted as a bypass to Christianity’s ‘hard way of the cross’, but is actually meant as a guideline for the new way that Jesus demonstrated: if you truly do love God all the way, then what you please to do will naturally be what pleases Him. It’s called being in alignment with the universe, with God. God is not dictating every move we make- he gave us free choice so that we can choose whether or not to live in that alignment. Indeed, that very free choice gives us space to make mistakes, but through them we learn the life lessons we need for growth.
A saying attributed to Henry Ford goes like this: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”. Do I want what I’ve always got? Or am I willing to let change happen? Will I put up my sail?
