BREAKING AWAY FROM OUR CYCLES OF BEHAVING
The
book of Judges that we start reading today, presents to us a cycle of God’s
people being unfaithful (OFFENDING THE LORD), Yahweh flaring up and delivering
them to the hands of plunderers, the LORD raising up judges to warn them and
deliver them from their enemies. YET they continue not to follow the
commandments of the LORD. They begin crying in distress. Yahweh listens to their cries of affliction. There comes PEACE but when the judge dies ... they relapse and do worse than
the sins of their ancestors. THEN the
Lord FLARES up again and DELIVERS them again unto the hands of their despoilers
... and the cycle continues. It will
almost get tiring to read ... in the coming days about this cycle of being
unfaithful, not following the commandments, the appearance of judges, people
crying in affliction, Yahweh relenting and delivering his people from their
enemies, the judge dies and everyone goes back to their old ways.
WHAT
ARE THE CYCLES of our lives ... in which we feel ... we’ve been caught in ...
almost involuntarily ... as if it has become our DEFAULT ... the TIMES when we
say ... ETO NA NAMAN AKO ... nangyari na ito dati (HERE AM I AGAIN. THIS HAPPENED ALREADY IN THE PAST). Umuulit na naman ako. The SAME PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR REPEATS ITSELF AGAIN
... and again and again. I don’t seem to
learn. HOW DO I STOP MY CYCLE OF
BEHAVING???
The more conscious among us can undestand that there are patterns of behaving in our different contexts that we ... UNCONSCIOUSLY
IMBIBE. One or two in the families of my
lolo and lola tended to break-away from the family circle; there are STRONG-WILLED women in my
family; the male members in my family
tend to DIE younger; there’s a pattern of alcoholism and addiction in my
family; family members get into
arguments; there's a history of getting into business deals that eventually got family members killed or
assassinated. What is the CYCLE in your
family?
Or
on the personal level ... what PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR do I get to repeat?? Why do I get agitated when I watch certain movies or observe peculiar behavior of people. What stimuli in the
environment will eventually upset me or get me very angry? What role do I usually play when I am with
friends ... am I the listener? The clown? The problem solver? The community gatherer? Am I usually the LAID BACK one? Can I experiment on other ways of behaving
... other than the PATTERN or cycle of behaving that I’ve grown most accustomed
to? Can I break away from MY CYCLE??
A
cycle is precisely something that begins and ends and begins again ... begins
and ends and begins again ... begins and ends and begins again. CYCLE!!!!
NAKAKAPAGOD!
It
is interesting for me to note the ORIGINAL GREEK WORDS used by the young man in
the gospel for ETERNAL LIFE ... ZOEwei AIONIOS – eternal life; NO BEGINNING AND
NO END ... a LIFE that does not begin nor end.
“Teacher, what good must I do to
gain eternal life?” OR if we translate
that now to how we interpret the Gospel:
LORD, how do I PUT A STOP TO MY PATTERN OF BEHAVING ... to my DEFAULT
BEHAVIOR ... (HERE AM I AGAIN. THIS HAPPENED
ALREADY IN THE PAST). Umuulit na naman
ako. The SAME PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR
REPEATS ITSELF AGAIN ... and again and again. NAKAKAPAGOD NA! . “Teacher,
what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
Can
we just get into the FEELING OF EXHAUSTION ... the FEELING OF EXASPERATION ...
THE FEELING OF FRUSTRATION ... REPEATING AND REPEATING THE PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR
perhaps experienced by that young man in the Gospel. He wants ETERNAL LIFE ... ZOEWAY AIONIOS ...
a life of no beginning and no end ... a LIFE FREE FROM MY CYCLE and ENDLESS
PATTERNS OF BEHAVING.
If
you wish to be COMPLETE – teleios (perfect);
TELOS ... brought to completion ... or be brought to your end ... KEEP
THE ENTOLEY – COMMANDMENTS (FAITHFULNESS) or better yet GIVE AWAY YOUR
POSSESSIONS (HOOPHARCHONTA – POSSESSIONS – literally ... that which BEGINS YOU
... that which anchors/ roots you ... that which allows you to RULE. What leads
you ... or that which we are so attached to (i.e., my family, my reputation,
what I think of myself, what I made for myself, my pride, my sense of privacy,
my friendships ... or even the vocation ... I want to be a Jesuit ... baka
possession na yan?
Today
... we are asked to reflect on our PATTERNS / CYCLES of behaving ... how are we
called to BREAKAWAY from such possibly negative cycles in our lives and to
ZOEWAY AIONIOS ... a life of no beginning and no end. Will I be willing to let go of what usually
rules me??? Or do I simply forget all
about these things ... and turn away sad and grieving all the days of our
lives. Always ... we are asked to
choose.
