One day, a young disciple wanted to put his teacher’s wisdom to the test. He took a tiny chick and hid it in his hands. His plan was to present it to his teacher and ask him:
“Teacher, is the chick in my hands dead or alive?”
If the teacher said the chick was alive, the disciple would squeeze his hands and kill it. If the teacher said that it was dead, he would release it so it could fly. In this way, regardless of what the teacher’s answer was, he could demonstrate that he was wrong.
When the young man asked his question, the teacher serenely looked at him and said, “The answer is in your hands.”
This parable is common in various cultures and highlights the freedom and responsibility we have in the decisions we make. A few Bible verses come to mind:
“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live” (Deut 30:19).
“Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way” (Prov 4:14-15).
This tension of choosing between good and evil accompanies us our entire lives, from the smallest decisions, like stopping to give alms or avoiding it; to the greatest ones, such as picking a profession or deciding to have a family, decisions that mark our destiny.
To observe, analyze, feel, ponder, discern and decide are key actions to exercise our free will. This freedom, which characterizes us as human beings, is under threat today. A tide of opinion continually floods us with contrasting messages, confusing us, and sometimes making us believe that what is good is bad, and what is bad is good.
Our spirit has been hacked. Every time we use a cellular phone to express our preference, the systems that control marketing know what interests us, what our tastes are, the better to seduce us.
They present to us — under the appearance of “good” and “happy” — objects and plans to achieve success and abundance, guided by their interests and strategies. Today, it’s a challenge to see and hear with clarity, there is so much fogginess around us, so many screaming messages that distract us, that make us chase false dreams.
A good principle that I learned as a hiker is that, when you feel lost, you have to return to base camp. Being aware that we are lost is the first step in deciding to return to base. What is not done consciously will become a person’s destiny, the great psychologist Carl Jung used to say.
Wake up from this somnolence and numbness produced by communication “opiates.” Seek help, look within, confront our shadows, and create silent spaces to be able to listen to the intimate voice of our conscience that reminds us of the most profound yearning we have for our life here on this earth: to love and be loved.
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are a privileged source to learn and seek the grace of discernment, to listen to God’s plan etched in the DNA of our existence and to decide everything for his great glory, which is the glory of what we are like: the image and likeness of God.
Only when we feel peace and profound joy when making a decision, though at times accompanied by pain and tears, can we say that we have chosen the path of good, that we have chosen life over death. The option is in your hands! Choose that we may live, as well as our descendants.
Ricardo Márquez can be reached at marquez_muskus@yahoo.com.
