What narrative are we accepting?

We’re all aware that there can be different narratives of events or people. Conflicts and crises all over the world have shown us the danger of categorically accepting or espousing a particular narrative without sorting out what is true or false.

In praying about how to be alert to and overcome my own preconceptions, I was reminded of a Bible story about a paralyzed man. As told in the Gospel of Mark (see 2:1–12), this man was brought to Jesus to be healed. He had to be carried, and his friends seemed to do this willingly. Jesus was in a house, and there was a crowd, so in order to get the man close to him, the man’s friends opened the roof and lowered him down. The result: Jesus forgave the man’s sins, and the paralysis was healed.

Dropping a matter-based narrative and going to higher mental ground enables us to heal.