OLD SCRIPTS

Fr Jim Cogley

One of Christ’s core teachings in St John’s Gospel was, ‘Make your home in me and so you will prove to be my disciples’. Many so live their lives out of old scripts that they have become so at home with that they no longer recognize them or even know of another way of living. A soon forgotten word spoken in anger to a child can become a life script. Remarks like stupid, foolish, nuisance, useless, beauty without brains, waste of space can determine how that individual grows up to see themselves. Any form of shaming can have such a detrimental effect as to limit that person’s ability to live a full and meaningful life. It may take quite a bit of reflection to identify these age-old limiting scripts and where they may have originated. Even more important is to consciously replace them with a positive word, perhaps from scripture. For example, as an antidote to having been made feel inadequate I might adopt as a mantra, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Then slowly but surely this will become the reality of my life.