Koan #19: All Must Change

What is often scorned as too difficult and unnecessary by many an Unbeliever, ignored by many a hypocritical Believer, and imperfectly attempted by the true Faithful, is the understanding, knowledge and acceptance of this fact: when one chooses to pick up his Catholic Cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then this changes everything. And it is not merely enough to say this one word, for its use is often employed but rarely fully elucidated. So what does “changing everything” mean in practical and direct terms? It means that the Believer must change: what he thinks about the Divine; what he listens to; how he listens to what he listens to; what he believes about his future life; what he watches; how he watches that which he has chosen to watch; what he reads; how he reads it; what he speaks about; how he articulates his words; what he debates; how he debates; how he deals with the political sphere; what he studies; how he studies it; what he thinks; how he thinks about it; what he questions; how he brings forth those questions; the morals that he holds dear; how he socializes with the world; who he socializes with in this world; where he socializes; what he socializes about when he does socialize; where he goes; how he uses his time; how he spends his money; how he treats the poor; the virtues that he develops; how he deals with strangers; the vices that he rejects; how he views suffering; how he interacts with his spouse; how he treats his children; how he sees the world; how he cares for himself; how he creates and arranges his personal priorities; the ethics that he applies; what he thinks about the human person; what he believes about his very existence; how he views the supernatural; how charitable he is; how materialistic he is; the philosophies he subscribes to; the work that he chooses; how he conducts himself in public; how he completes the work that he has chosen; how he feels; if he fasts; how he sees himself alone in the dark; how he thinks of human nature; how he thinks of good and evil; if he even believes in good and evil; how he controls and directs his emotions; how he views the environment; what he drinks; what he teaches his children; what he wears; what he eats; if he prays; how he walks and a further list of endless things. Now it was no doubt tedious to read such a list—incomplete though it is—as it may have been believed that such things were already known, and perhaps they were, but it is necessary to see them written forth, so that a full realization of the extent of the change required is plainly seen. Let the future Believer be ready for this. Let the current Believer practice it. And let the one who fears it or finds it foolish turn his back and walk away.