Imagine being two years old and seeing a lizard as big as you a few feet above you and coming toward you.

The children learned it is normal and not scary to have huge lizards nearby.

Later I saw them poking at a big one with a stick, and their mom said, “Cuidado. Ele vai te chicotear!” “Watch out, or he’ll whip you!” Iguanas whip their tail as a defense mechanism.
By the time we are 18, we have learned, “This is how the world treats me, and this is how I respond.” 

When stuff happens, many of our responses are automatic reactions.

But then people do things we don’t understand, or our reactions are unhelpful or worse.

Maybe you’ve noticed this?

Thankfully we have the Holy Spirit to guide us if we slow down to pay attention.

And we have the capacity to reflect on our lessons so far and on our ideas of an ideal future.