I believe that Jesus is the great reconciler. Picture two lines, one going vertically, the other going horizontally: That’s the cross. Pioneer psychologist Carl Jung stated that Jesus was killed in an “agonizing suspension between irreconcilable opposites.” Whenever we try to hold opposite energies together—liberal/conservative, masculine/feminine, right/wrong, black/white, anything that’s conflictive—we are going to get crucified.
When viewing the cross, picture a collision of opposites, the coming together of opposing energies, both of which invariably think they’re the whole truth. Paul saw this clearly, thirty years after Jesus died: “God wanted all fullness to be found in him and through him to reconcile all things to him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, by making peace through his death on the cross” (Colossians 1:19–20).
—from the book Jesus’ Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount
by Richard Rohr, OFM
