"On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching, and a woman was there who had been crippled for eighteen years. When Jesus saw her, he said to her, Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said: “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
Gospel of Luke
Everyday as we encounter others, we experience conflict. It could be conflict as to what to do, where to go, how to handle a situation. It really is unavoidable. We all have opinions. But most of these differences fortunately can be resolved through compromise. In most cases, there is a solution which will make everyone happy.
However, if the root of a conflict has to do with differences in personal values, there may not be an immediate resolution. Unlike differences involving opinions, conflicts over personal values are generally not subject to negotiation or compromise; at least not easily.
In many of the Gospel scriptures, we read about conflicts, and very often a conflict in values. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and sees a woman who has been suffering for eighteen years. He has great sympathy for her distress, recognizes that He can do something about it, and heals her. He is moved by compassion, and works to make the other person whole and healthy -- to bring life to her.
The conflict results when this action is challenged by a synagogue official who becomes indignant. This means to look at the other with contempt. He does not agree that the law of the Sabbath, which is foremost in his list of values, should be broken, for any reason.
Jesus then gives concrete examples as to how this cherished value of the synagogue official is broken every day in other ways. Jesus' explanations go unheard, as do most explanations given which seeks to bring clarification to rigid, deep-rooted values.
The questions that were raised in my mind as I was reflecting on this Gospel text are as follows:
1. What active deeply-rooted values do I have that may be in conflict with Christian truths? Do these deeply-rooted values make me deaf to logical and sound explanations that are offered by others?
2. What can I do to discern the truth? How can I discover for myself the right way to respond during those times I experience conflict in values with others?
Saint Paul in his letters tells us that we no longer have to obey our unspiritual selves, or to live unspiritual lives. But we can trust in God's Spirit to guide us through difficult times, including times of personal conflict. And if, through prayer and reflection, we can discover the Spirit's leading, then in all probability, it will lead to a resolution which gives life and wholeness, not only to ourselves, but to the other.
We all have an unspiritual "self", a "self" bent on having its own way; a "self" conditioned by deeply rooted values that hold us rigidly to our position. And yet, we are all called by God to discover His truth for our lives and then to apply this truth in a responsible manner in dealing with life's conflicts as they arise.
Prayer and reflection becomes the narrow gateway that leads to life, leads to the Spirit, and leads to our putting "self" aside, and focusing on the Spirit.
As St. Paul says: "Everyone moved by the Spirit is truly the son and daughter of God."
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