The power of attraction begins with our watching the gestures of another person. People reveal themselves with every physical movement of hands, face, legs, and the entire body itself. People are telling others about themselves without even knowing it, simply by how they walk or carry their purse or books. The more we are physical, the more we are available to being known. Through gestures, then, we move from mystery into history. When we are invited in the Spiritual Exercises to contemplate the life of Jesus, we are urged to watch God move into our history by the physical actions or gestures of the God-made-man, Jesus. God had made many attempts to attract our attention and response through the covenants with our Jewish ancestors. They were gestures that began, and continued through the centuries, this courtship with the human family. We now watch the increase of intensity with which Jesus comes calling. If suspicion needs distance, then our calculating selves need to allow him to perform his drama of gestures before our eyes and hearts. If prejudice needs the ignorance that distance provides, then we allow Jesus to properly inform our minds and wills so as to be in his troop. |