The old sayings about “fighting” take on a totally different perspective when it is family or principles at stake, especially if one is a male. I am extremely reluctant to “blame” my gender or hormones for my behavior; however it is difficult to express the intensity of the desire within except in this context. Anger, frustration, and the willingness to inflict harm all scream before my heart event has a chance to react! My heart responds with a cry for something, anything else. There has got to be another answer to the challenge.
I found myself in a moment of intense pain, ready to strike, crying for justice where there was none. In the midst of the motion an answer to an unspoken prayer came flooding through my soul in ways that I still don’t understand. For once I felt nothing. In that moment I was unable to speak. As I try to think back, reliving the moment in time, I cannot remember having any thoughts. It was silence; total and complete silence. The silence slipped through my body and soul in a way that reminded me of my fifteen year old memories of slipping into unconsciousness when I experienced anaphylactic shock.
It was in that moment I could sense the passion of my heart coming to life. I know there was an alternative! Jesus found it when the truth and honesty of the moment “pushed them (the crowd) over the edge. They picked up rocks to throw at him. But Jesus slipped away, getting out of the Temple.” (John 8.59) Escape wasn’t a retreat. Responding could be more than aggression. Love, mercy, and compassion could win the day. For me, on one day, in one moment, they did.
Yet the struggle doesn’t end there. The attacks continue in all shapes and sizes. Nobody is immune! Everywhere one turns the victims are crying out for someone, anyone to care. We have something to give! We can make a difference! No need to fight, we have an alternative – the Spirit of serious engaged compassion.
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