Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Cartoon Theology

It's evident from the wrinkles on the page that I've
had this cartoon for some time!
We all want to be somehow rendered exempt from suffering, just as this deluded chicken imagines that its particular death can be any less messy and out-of-control than that of any of its kin.
Jesus, on the other hand, didn't seek to cut corners or find loopholes, but rather, participated fully in all levels of our experience, even those which are messy, miserable, and out-of-control.
Maybe any given individual will be granted a serene passing--
that is, after all, one of the things we pray for. But maybe not. And at some point in life, every person will find him or herself suffering indignity and panic, with no way out but through.
Maybe my complete unwillingness to gracefully accept this is part of my own indignity...

1 comment:

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

My sister, in dying three weeks ago, showed me that I CAN go "through" when there's no way out. And I CAN do it with grace.

Or at least SHE could! So *presumably* if my baby sister could, I can.

Only because Christ is with us all the way through, and is waiting in the serenity of the other side.