Article June 4, 2007 Issue

DON'T LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT

BY NATHAN TALBOT

AS I WALKED ALONG, a little pebble in my shoe was uncomfortable. But I was in a hurry, and it was easier just to cope with it. Maybe you've had a few pebbles in your life, too. More trouble than it's worth to deal with them. And yet, they keep nagging at your sense of peace. When the discomfort outweighs the effort it takes to tackle the problem, we finally do something about it.

But sometimes a pebble has become so engrained that it's not easily dislodged. In fact, it may have earned society's verdict: You'll just have to learn to live with it! Maybe the "it" is a neighbor who has been an irritant. Perhaps it's a job that's become unsatisfying. Or a health problem, or even a feeling that society itself is drifting in a direction at crosscurrents with what seems right to you. A helpless feeling can begin to take hold. The temptation can be strong—resign yourself to the way things are. But are we really forced to live with the cards mortal existence has dealt us?

Christ Jesus didn't believe so. And he didn't want us to accept such a fatalistic view either. In fact, I've wondered if he was directly challenging the need to live with "it" when he said in his Sermon on the Mount, "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with [it]" (Matt. 5:25). Sound a little puzzling? I mean, if the "adversary" is the problem you're facing, what's the use of agreeing with it since you want to be free of it? For me, Jesus was saying, "Don't learn to live with an adversary. Decide right now you're going to face it squarely and deal with it, confront and defeat it. Agree this moment to take a stand."

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