“The failure of the cross”
I continue to ponder some of the Dorothy Day quotes which captured and continues to dominate my thinking since listening to Kate Hennessy talk about her grandmother, Dorothy Day at Wheeling Jesuit University April 25, 2018. One of those quotes was about the failure of the cross. Dorothy Day said:
“The Saint would say, and perhaps he would be a very wise man in saying it, ‘The conquered conquers in the end. ‘Christ was overcome and He overcame. There was His ostensible failure on the Cross, yet He rose triumphant and Christianity spread over the world. The Christian thing to do would be not to resist, but when anyone asked for one’s coat, to give up one’s cloak besides.” (The Catholic Worker, May, 1936, 8)
For me, regardless of whether one accepts that Jesus physically rose from the dead, in my mind, as soon as he said: “. if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) the cross had failed. Bigger Thomas repeats this truth in Richard Wright’s Native Son when he says to the police person who is threatening him something to the effect of, “Man, you can’t do nothin except kill me and that ain’t nothin.”
If, in fact, as Dorothy Day suggested one gives one’s coat to the person who asks (attempt to steal even) for it, then one has lost nothing important.
As I near my 78th birthday I often hear myself say, “Ten minutes ago I was 16. Life is very short. Nothing matters except how well we love each other.” In fact, I just said that this morning to a young man who is new in recovery. His addiction is telling him he needs this and he needs that and if he does not get this or that he will be miserable. Yet, the addiction lies to him. He does not need this or that. He needs his integrity back. He needs to feel positive about himself This young man feels best when he can be there for others. He feels best when he honors his commitments to his core values. He feels best when others can trust him.
The truth of the failure of the cross seems simple at moments like this. Yet, in another moment I will be complaining about some piece of equipment not working, about me not being able to do something about the attempts to take more benefits away from the poor, about the lack of concern by many for the sacredness of the environment, about a computer not working well or some other event, person or thing not behaving as I would like or think is appropriate.
If there is nothing I need in this ten minutes of life including life itself, then there is no one and nothing which has any power over me. You are going to take my furniture so that I do not have to maintain it? You are going to take my closet full of clothes so that I do not have to decide what to wear and to keep taking care of them? You are going to take my computer and allow me just to focus on being present? You are going to shorten my life or injure me? Certainly. I must admit, I often feel as if I need these things and I certainly would rather not be in pain for whatever time I have left. Yet, you cannot make me behave in a way which is inconsistent with my core values. You cannot force me to be someone I do not want to be. Only I can give you my integrity. Just for today – just for this moment – I choose not to do that.
Written April 27, 2018
I continue to ponder some of the Dorothy Day quotes which captured and continues to dominate my thinking since listening to Kate Hennessy talk about her grandmother, Dorothy Day at Wheeling Jesuit University April 25, 2018. One of those quotes was about the failure of the cross. Dorothy Day said:
“The Saint would say, and perhaps he would be a very wise man in saying it, ‘The conquered conquers in the end. ‘Christ was overcome and He overcame. There was His ostensible failure on the Cross, yet He rose triumphant and Christianity spread over the world. The Christian thing to do would be not to resist, but when anyone asked for one’s coat, to give up one’s cloak besides.” (The Catholic Worker, May, 1936, 8)
For me, regardless of whether one accepts that Jesus physically rose from the dead, in my mind, as soon as he said: “. if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) the cross had failed. Bigger Thomas repeats this truth in Richard Wright’s Native Son when he says to the police person who is threatening him something to the effect of, “Man, you can’t do nothin except kill me and that ain’t nothin.”
If, in fact, as Dorothy Day suggested one gives one’s coat to the person who asks (attempt to steal even) for it, then one has lost nothing important.
As I near my 78th birthday I often hear myself say, “Ten minutes ago I was 16. Life is very short. Nothing matters except how well we love each other.” In fact, I just said that this morning to a young man who is new in recovery. His addiction is telling him he needs this and he needs that and if he does not get this or that he will be miserable. Yet, the addiction lies to him. He does not need this or that. He needs his integrity back. He needs to feel positive about himself This young man feels best when he can be there for others. He feels best when he honors his commitments to his core values. He feels best when others can trust him.
The truth of the failure of the cross seems simple at moments like this. Yet, in another moment I will be complaining about some piece of equipment not working, about me not being able to do something about the attempts to take more benefits away from the poor, about the lack of concern by many for the sacredness of the environment, about a computer not working well or some other event, person or thing not behaving as I would like or think is appropriate.
If there is nothing I need in this ten minutes of life including life itself, then there is no one and nothing which has any power over me. You are going to take my furniture so that I do not have to maintain it? You are going to take my closet full of clothes so that I do not have to decide what to wear and to keep taking care of them? You are going to take my computer and allow me just to focus on being present? You are going to shorten my life or injure me? Certainly. I must admit, I often feel as if I need these things and I certainly would rather not be in pain for whatever time I have left. Yet, you cannot make me behave in a way which is inconsistent with my core values. You cannot force me to be someone I do not want to be. Only I can give you my integrity. Just for today – just for this moment – I choose not to do that.
Written April 27, 2018
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