Getting on Jesus' Wavelength...

It's transition time for me these days (as if we aren't always in a bit of transition, right? Because if we're not in some kind of transition, we're probably not growing...) as I move into my new day job at Le Moyne College, a Jesuit liberal arts school in Syracuse, NY. This hasn't been leaving much time/energy for blogging, though I am trying to make a regular commitment.

With a little help and encouragement from friends though, here we are! What I have on my mind and heart these days is how important it is to get ourselves on Jesus' wavelength. What do I mean by that? In the letter to the Philippians, Paul suggests that we should have the same mind in us, the same attitude if you will, of Christ Jesus. Elsewhere, Paul writes of the importance of being renewed by the constant transformation of our minds, our ways of knowing.

If I am not mistaken, we are commended to adopt Jesus' way of seeing, knowing, and being... to get on his wavelength instead of seeing, knowing, and being as the world teaches. The contrast is fairly dramatic. If the world teaches us to seek our own satisfaction through the pursuit of possessions, Jesus teaches us to live with simplicity, sharing what have with those who have less than we do. If the world teaches us to seek power for ourselves and to lord it over other people for the pursuit of our own ends, Jesus teaches us that power is meant for service, and that greatness comes from putting ourselves in the service of the least. If the world teaches us to seek for celebrity and prestige in the eyes of others, Jesus teaches us to imitate him in living without concern for what others think, and even to endure public shame and humiliation in the service of purposes and priorities bigger than ourselves.

In short, the wavelength that Jesus operates on, the logic of his life, is very different from the wavelength and logic of the world. Are we willing to tune into his frequency?