Kristo Rai @ FIFA

A word is set loose in human history that excuses no one from walking the life gifted one to live. Christo Roi reigns supreme. That many refuse to live the one, unique, unrepeatable life they already have, ignoring that there was never one like them before, and no one like them will ever come again, leaves a lot of whining lives wasted in sidelines of history.

My daughter has a sign in her kitchen: “$5 charge for whining.” Being a Christo is a chosen role, rather than a whine of a victim ran over by circumstances (Roman rule) or mean-spirited external forces (scribes and Pharisees). My mantra: “The situation is never a person’s contradiction; one’s relationship to it, in fact, defines one’s personal circumstance!” We may not be able to manage, let alone control, our situation, but we sure have the option on how to relate to it.

The Christ-the-King notion has been turned into a widespread cult on the butt-full Jesus idolatry terrain rather than the supremacy of the Christ-word and Christ-role as a practical option of our lives. The danger is in reducing the Christ into a cognitive exercise, a unit of belief and “faith” sans grounding in existential flesh and blood. Grounding a historical image propagated by theological reflection, be it from Augustine or Aquinas, Luther or Kierkegaard, cannot replace the bloody flesh on the historical barbwires of reality on one’s time.

Jesus the Christ is the exemplar par excellence in my tradition, but to be His disciple in practice means that the Jesus Christ of 2,000 years ago takes on my likeness and my name is tagged on wrestling of the terror of death and the triumphal marquee of the emptied tomb! The Jesus of history fades and my historical reality emerges.

I do not long for a journey to Palestine of old, nor wish a devotional visit to Salman’s Head of Christ. In the last three weeks, secular me stared daily at the aerial view of the statue of the Christ the Redeemer above Rio in Brazil, a figure I once saw in 1980 on a trek to South America.

Today, participants to the World Cup of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) discover that a team excels more when its passionate kick-and-run supersedes its mature but calculating professional credential. Germany lumped host Brazil while Argentina shoved Netherlands aside in a free kick shoot-out after a scoreless time play.

Cristo Rei in Rio begs the question. What is the Kristo Rai in our lives? Put another way, what is the summum bonum, the highest good in your life? The answer is a choice, not an automatic inheritance from heritage or academic expertise.

New Canadian friend Alex thinks that all Canada wants from its young is to be good at hockey. My grandchildren this summer play soccer and baseball; two of them are ambidextrous so they can hit and kick right and left, an ability of advantage when playing the games. At their tender age, they dream of being professional players all their lives.

Family relations reign supreme to many so we treasure the promise of clan, shield the family name from tarnish, and develop a competitive edge to ensure high social standing. Being on top of standardized tests, in academia or at the workplace, is a premium for our children on our guard. We judge a person by commercial values; earning capacity is nurtured and guarded. Business schools tout the virtues of “Looking after No. 1”.

Where leadership indicates a position in a pecking order, being an authority or an elected official is cherished. Sports and athletics hone the senses, command the muscular and skeletal eptitude that gets instincts to the height of animal survival all the way to inescapable hormonal charm. Add intuition and we move into the gracious affirmation of sensitive and strategic maneuvering. Virtues labeled as “love and compassion” are often used to describe attainment in this field. We obsess for adulation, to be liked and be popular.

Managing language and precision in numbers adds the gift of intellect into the personality stew. We converse with the wisdom of tradition and annotate the literary leavings of the learned, then dialogue with the voices that command assent among the educated. Today, it is the adoration of the meta-brain that allows for tenure and security in intellectual circles. Expertise loquaciously clothed qualifies, certainty confidently expressed secures.

The gifts of instinct, the refinement of intuition, and the sophistication of intellect is nothing if it does not translate into the efficacy of practical intentions. Living effectively demands a comprehensive mind, a strategic heart, a capable body and a resolute will. Viewing one’s unique, unrepeatable self from those four portals lead to the highest good of the Cristo Rai role.

The FIFA of Brazil shows boldly its Cristo Rei image displayed on the hill! Soccer players from 32 countries left their marks on the field. Argentina’s Lionel Messi could not mess up das teamarbeit enough that Mario Gotze’s goal on the 113 minute of play finally got Germany their Cup.

For us, like everyone else, to be human is to decide roles 7/24. Decide. Alleluia!