Me as Antidote – Dose 1

The word “antidote” has this greek rendering that means “given against.” It’s the counter agent to whatever toxin you’ve been exposed. In 2007 I was stung by no less than 15 wasps at once. My wife happened to come outside as I was writhing in the driveway. She remembered that mud is said to function as an analgesic and proceeded to turn on the hose. She made some mud, smeared all over my head where most of the stings occurred and the pain gradually subsided. How do we treat our figurative wasp stings?

Antidotes, I’ve read, can be created by injecting small amounts of a poison into an animal so it can naturally produce antibodies. Those antibodies can then be extracted to save say a human life. But in our world, what if the venom is unkindness, isolation and self-absorption? When people insist on not making eye contact with me, I usually let ’em off the hook. I don’t engage. I have neighbors on either side of me that I don’t know. Many strangers don’t want to know me (venom) and I respond in kind by pretending I don’t care (also venom). Huh? The antidote to unkindness, isolation and self-absorption is certainly not to reflect those non-virtues. But isn’t that what we do? Tit-for-Tat? A husband cheats on his wife and she fixes his wagon with a comparable act. Your teammate won’t pass you the ball so on a routine 3-on-2 fast break you return the solid and cost your team buckets. There’s a small picture and a big picture that we see in the worlds in which we live. Focusing on the small one is always the most poisonous because it’s only about us. (Part 2 tomorrow…)