Trapped by Expectation and Assumption

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary cause consideration of how easy acceptance of the cultural norms or the “way we do it” can take us away from important growth in our journey and add to the inertia which keeps society enslaved to notions that impede development of community consciousness. Tobit is dealing with a disability which has necessitated that his wife, Anna, be the major bread winner in his family. Today, even in the booming economy of China, men have difficulty when their wives earn the income for the family. The International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. The modern phrase for the confusion of Tobit over the reward acquired by his wife might be cognitive dissonance. The mind strives to rectify any disagreement between the sensed reality and the concepts about that reality which are governing our thought process. The distress we encounter in difficulty can be personality changing. The gift of those close who, like Anna, can shake us back to reflection on our state is of immense value. The psalmist praises the virtues of the righteous who remain faithful, like Anna, to the direction of the Divine. They continue to pursue love and justice in spite of conditions which the popular opinion would provide encouragement to abandon. The Gospel of Mark relates another episode where Jesus avoids the trap of “dual thinking” and the pressure of the authorities to reduce His teaching to a yes or no response. The gift of intimate relationship with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit opens our responses to avoid entrapment in “easy choices”, obvious directions and prescribed roles for people.