How do you untie a knot? Well, the particulars depend on how the knot was constructed, but, generally, you loosen the knot by pulling on it in such a way and in such a place that the grip comes undone.
Elements of our culture, our nation, and our church are tied in knots. The current buzz word for those knots is “polarity.”
What is polarity? I’ve been reading about it from different sources, but the authors I’m reading define polarity in chapters, not sentences, so here is a short definition of my own construction, “Polarity is looking at differences about really important things through the eyes of war, rather than the eyes of God.” It is approaching real, knotty differences with self-interest survival, rather than a way of Truth and Love.
The books I’m reading say it’s been developing in politics and church since the 1960s. Online media, polarizing leaders, constant news, COVID 19 isolation, and the complexity of problems our world faces all play a part in it. There’s so much noise and news all around that we tend to sort ourselves into groups of people who think like us. Then human and social processes cause us to slip into “us vs them” thinking and acting. The result is something akin to what happened to the boys on the island in Lord of the Flies.
I can be guilty of polarized thinking, so I am not casting stones, but there are some basic ways to at least look at the knots we’re tied in. Today’s readings give me guidance. I hope they can guide you, too.
Ezekiel 33:7-9
Ezekiel was a prophet of the first deportation of Jews to Babylon. He was 27 years old when he walked to Babylon in 597 BC. His prophecies began there five years later and continued to 571 BC. He was the voice of God speaking to his exiled people for 21 years. Ezekiel was creative in how he spoke for God. He used a lot of images and drama in his prophecies. Today’s selection from Ezekiel is straight forward: Ezekiel is a watchman within the exiled people of Israel, but God gives him understandings that it is his job to express. The verses right after these have God telling Ezekiel to give his people hope through repentance. God says to him: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”
Then the next verse hits home for me: “And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness;” (Ezekiel 33:11-12)
God is addressing all of us. God is addressing me. A better goal in polarity is NOT to defeat or destroy the other side. A better goal is to convert both sides to righteousness.
That is the first lesson for today: Remember the goal: conversion for all.
Romans 13:8-10
In these short verses, Paul names a great knot we face in the Church, a knot we are not untying. How do we balance the 10 Commandments with their “thou shall not” knots, with Paul’s advice: “the one who loves another has fulfilled the law?” What does loving someone who sees the meaning of “the Law” very differently from us look like? Are the 10 Commandments REALLY in opposition to Catholic Social Teaching? Did not Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, say we are to live by commandment and beatitude?
Paul goes on to say, “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence love is the fulfillment of the law.”
So, the guidance here is that the parts of our thinking that see those who think very differently from us as “the enemy” is not the way to think.
Some of you may be saying (as I have said in my heart), “But people who think differently think that way because of Satan. Satan has them.”
Maybe Satan has all of us if we are spending our time and energy attacking the “other” instead of using love, logic, personal relationship, public forums, and private conversations to SPEAK the truth we see and to LISTEN to the truth in others—with the goal of conversion of us all.
Indeed, perhaps we all need to become Thomas Aquinas. In controversies centuries ago, Aquinas broke questions down to one at a time. Then he considered what this person and that person and this Scripture and that church father said. He sorted them all out—to find what consistently and logically expressed the ways of God—including the secular thinking of Greek philosophers—then sorted out the truth of that concept before he went on to the next one.
Matthew 18:15-20
Even if you are used to reading Thomas Aquinas, he’s complex. But today Jesus is direct and simple. Ezekiel calls us to speak up. Paul gives us the general guidance that we need to “speak Truth in Love.” Jesus gives us the plan:
- First, speak one on one, naming the harm you see.
- If that does not solve the difficulty, go back, taking one or two others with you. This is to help insure that “facts” are accurate. We can all slant facts to believe what we want to believe.
- If this does not work, then Jesus says to take it to the Church—to the community. Hmm. Taking things to the Church is calling in the Holy Spirit to guide us.
- But what if that is not enough. Then Jesus says, “Treat him as you would a Gentile or tax collector.” Does that mean to turn away or against? It has been interpreted that way, but…what did Jesus do? Jesus went out of his way to eat with sinners and tax collectors.
He kept up social relationships. He kept up the conversations. He listened. He cared.
Untying Knots
Knots are constructed so that pulling on them in certain ways tightens them. That’s why they were so important for sailing ships, why they help tents stay up and keep our shoes tied. Sometimes knots are good. They make movable things dependable.
And, sometimes knots prevent movement. They tie us up.
So, today, we might ask, “Where is Truth? Where is Love? How do I seek the good of the other, when the other thinks very differently? How do I escape the knots of polarity when I need to be Ezekiel?
Food for prayer. Lots and lots and lots of prayer. Friday was Mary’s birthday. Perhaps we make a gift to her today of this prayer:
Miracle Prayer to Our Lady Undoer of Knots
Holy Mary, full of the presence of God,
during your life you accepted
with great humility
the Holy Will of the Father
and the legacy of your Son,
Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Evil never dared to entangle you
with its confusion.
Since then, you have interceded
for all of our difficulties.
With all simplicity and patience
you have given us examples
on how to untangle the knots
in our complicated lives.
By being our Mother forever,
you arrange and make clear
the path that unites us to Our Lord.
Holy Mary, Mother of God and ours,
with your maternal heart,
untie the knots that upset our lives.
We ask you to receive in your hands …
(mention a person or your prayer request here)
… and deliver us from the chains and confusions
that have us restrained.
Blessed Virgin Mary, through your grace,
your intercession, and by your example,
deliver us from evil and untie the knots
that keep us from uniting with God,
so that once free of every confusion and error,
we may find Him in all things,
have Him in our hearts and serve Him always
in our brothers and sisters.
Amen.
