Jerking Knees

There used to be an old medical test performed by doctors and occasionally for fun by childhood friends and siblings, that involved having the patient sit with legs swinging free.  The doctor would then use a specific sort of rubber mallet and gently strike the patient just below the knee.

If you're about my age, you might remember incurring this test as a child.  It fell out of fashion because it tests a very simple circuit that really should work all the time, even if the patient is comatose.  I usually experience general disbelief when I explain what this test tests to someone.  This test sends a signal up exactly one cell to the spinal column to another cell.  The knee twitch message is carried back to the knee by exactly one other cell.  The feeling of sensation is carried by many smaller cells.  Two cells complete the circuit of perception and reaction.  These are indeed, counter intuitively long cells.

Reactions to recent events in Arizona (i.e. a public multiple murder) often resemble a great community of reflexively jerking knees.  The acts of heroism at the scene (often described by the heroes as "just reflex"), the overwhelming outpouring of every kind of sympathy and empathy from both supporters and opponents are but two examples of the very positive things a behavioral jerking knee can produce.  Of course there were also negative reactions, including attempts to assign blame to various political quarters, extending even to calls for making some sorts of speech illegal.

Fortunately, unlike the physiology associated with our knees, we can and should learn to edit and redirect our reflexive responses.  The processes and values in this pursuit are challenging and varied.  For those who follow Christ, this is a work into which he must be allowed and even invited to participate.

I will offer only two suggestions regarding the process of restructuring our reflexes.  As we look and possibly recoil at the acts and speech of others, resist the temptation to express the negative while any hint of reflex remains.  Secondly, engage the person on the "other side," holding their intrinsic worth and value as being more important than a singular opinion, or even the sum of their opinions.  Thus, even when we are challenging their dearly and deeply held beliefs, we are doing so out of our love and care for them, rather than from a reaction of what is perhaps one of our own personal very short circuits.