The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

There is an intriguing year-round acquaintance of ours that is silent most days, sharing no malice or contempt. It is patient and forbearing, taking its best days in stride. It is called a crown of thorns, or Christ thorn, a tropical plant species of the spurge family prone to produce deep red blooms and dark green pear-shaped leaves. The best thing about it is how it thrives on minimal care: spare moisture, pot-bound conditions, and a fairly broad tolerance of daily temperature swings.

In spite of being ignored most weeks, it just keeps on producing blooms. It is centrally located and cannot be totally ignored, though we’ve tried. Still, there is occasional guilty at the lop-sidedness of the deal. We get its best while not always doing our share. Kind of sounds like the unmerited gift of grace that is central to most Christian faiths.

If patience were personified in plants, the crown of thorns would be its poster child. It grows slowly, almost as if to encourage us to worry less over our own lifestyles. It knows what and whose it is, and its beauty is deep and long-lasting without deviating from its purpose. Can we say the same when it comes to our faith?

It’s hard to take the long view. Our lives are fleeting as it is without the unnecessary burdens that modern culture places on us. Social media builds impossible hurdles to overcome for our youngest generations as they try to keep pace with who and what society tells them to be. It is a diversion and annoyance that far too many cannot distinguish from real life. To do so takes a longer view than how many “likes” one can garner. And what of the older generations among us? We apparently can be just as adolescent and easily swayed as anyone if the events of this year’s political climate are any measure.

I’ve signed up for the long haul, the expedition not the day hike, the journey not the jog, and the voyage that is no mere skip through a puddle. I’d rather undertake a lifetime of learning than abdicate responsible Christian citizenship by rushing to embrace easy outs and foolish slogans as part of a substantive faith. That notion is clarifying, one that all should experience in various moments of their faith journey. This is no sprint, no hell-and-damnation arm twisting to make one utter magic words or phrases that sound very religious but are short on substance. It is, instead, a deep longing that realizes place and possibility, hopeful expectation drawn from a first century carpenter who provided a blueprint for a better life.

What better example for us, then, than the crown of thorns as it withstands our neglect but manages to come through for us in the end? It simply does not disappoint. Following this year’s election, rediscovering our common humanity is a task worth engaging. Albert Nolan in “Jesus Before Christianity” suggests, “To believe in Jesus is to believe that goodness can and will triumph … God is speaking to us in a new way today. God is speaking to us in the events and problems of our time. Jesus can help us to understand the voice of Truth but, in the last analysis, it is we who must decide and act.”