Most of us are like the rest of us.
No one enjoys situations of conflict, discomfort or separation. Most of us would rather run from these situations. And yet it is within these situations, if they are faced and dealt with, that the treasures of life are mined and ultimately experienced.
I can think of no better image of this than the one of Jesus heading toward Jerusalem, knowing what awaited him – with his disciples hanging back in fear.
Mark 10:30-52 tells the story of the approach: “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the 12 aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’”
The worst thing that could ever happen brought about the best thing that could ever happen.
In life our “Jerusalems” are places of conflict, discomfort or separation. Whatever those places or situations may be, they are places of pain, struggle and even death. That is what makes them so scary. That’s precisely why we try to avoid them at all costs.
Hidden in those “Jerusalems” are the treasures of resurrection, new ways of seeing, new ways of relating and new ways of being.
The only means of appropriating those ways and living them out is by going in and dealing with them. We must enter our Jerusalem, deal with it, and conquer it.
Your religious support team is here to help along life’s journey, because most of us are like the rest of us.