Having a bad day…

We all have them. There are good days and better days and some that stop us in our tracks and challenge us. These latter we often refer to as 'bad days'. But are they really bad days? And whose bad day are they?

In recounting his 'bad day' a young PE teacher told how one of his students with Asperges 'lost it' out on the oval. They were practicing ball skills and were under instruction that there was no need for any of the balls to go over the fence and that the penalty was 10 laps of the oval. Yet 'Jack' was soon found to be throwing the ball over the fence at cars, so naturally was given the consequential 10 laps. But Jack wasn't having any of that and started to throw the equipment at his fellow students. When his teacher intervened he threw them at him.

Later, when the situation was under control, the young teacher broke down. Later he would have to decide whether Jack could return to his class. At this moment he was too angry to consider it. What a bad day!

Jack's father collected him from school for he had been suspended. Jack's father said they should have called the police for assault! Dad was having a bad day.

The next day Jack was allowed back to school and he apologized to the teacher. By the end of the day he had again thrown things at students. Jack was having a bad day everyday it seems.

As I heard this story I thought about the compassion of Jesus. This was happening at a Catholic School that would be wanting to work with those who are having a bad day on a regular basis. This is a community that understands the compassion of Jesus and needs to work with all those involved for a reasonable outcome.

This was a challenging day for all who were involved. So was it a 'bad day'?

An opportunity to stand in someone else's shoes...

It was an opportunity to stand in someone else's shoes. It was a time to feel not in control of your life. It was a moment when the compassion and love of God might be revealed.

What is it like to be Jack living with Asperges? Is his daily experience something of a Gethsemane. What is it like for Jack's Dad?

This is only one little experience. Many occur every day in many ways, bringing people to a crisis moment, an agony of heart and of spirit. Yet in recalling the Gethsemane experience is to also see God in that moment too. Ron Rolheiser describes it as:

The agony in the garden is many things, but first of all, it's Jesus' entry into the darkest black hole of human existence, the black hole of bitter rejection, aloneness, humiliation and the helplessness to do anything about it. This is the deepest black hole of loneliness and it brings the lover inside us to the ground in agony begging for release.

Whenever our mouths are pushed into the dust of misunderstanding and loneliness inside that black hole, it's helpful to know Jesus was there before us, tasting our kind of loneliness.

It is certainly challenging to take the step beyond yourself and to consider the other. Is this what the compassion of Jesus is really about? When having a bad day is it possible that the cause of your bad day is someone who is having an even worse one!!

Rosemary

Rosemary Canavan lives in Adelaide. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts major in Psychology and two Bachelors degrees in Theology, the most recent an Honours degree in New Testament studies. She has two adult children.

Photo Credits: Main image "I want out" by Kevin Cloutier, Alachua, FL, United States.
Img sourced from stock.xchng

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Rosemary can be contacted at: rosemary@catholica.com.au

©2006 Rosemary Canavan

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