Living On The Edge

THOSE WHO LIVE ON the edge, those who suffer without end, those who experience profound persecution, abuse, oppression, discrimination, those who hang, stripped naked on a Cross, do not find it easy, sometimes, to think clearly, systematically about what to do, if anything.

When you are nailed to the wood, the suffering is intense.

In such circumstances, it is hard to face our own nakedness, our inadequacy of response, our weakness, our fragility, our own helplessness in the face of injustice.

WE MIGHT WRITE. “WE ARE THINKING OF YOU”, “LOVE AND HUGS”, SAY A QUICK PRAYER, BUT IS THAT WHAT YOU SAY TO SOMEONE BEING CRUCIFIED ON A CROSS OF UNIMAGINABLE PAIN?

It is hard to find words that can meet the need and what difference can we make, if any? We have to ask ourselves, how can we truly be present in the face of grief and outrage?

Jesus once said that he had come to light a fire; how he wished it was burning. (Lk 12:49)

What kind of fire burns in my heart: is it a pleasant-enough warmth or is there a flaming torch in my hand: the torch, the sword of the Spirit, inspired by love?

Wielding the sword of the Spirit, protected by the Breastplate of Integrity and the Buckler of Truth, we go forward into battle, seeking and speaking the Truth.