Flipping
“Flip!” Abba cried.
Jesus had never heard the word. And Abba spoke with such incredible assurance. It was in his voice. Everything Jesus knew about Abba came through hearing.
“Please, Abba, enlighten me.”
“We’ve said it before but not clearly enough.”
“What?”
“The way!”
“Yes.”
“Jesus this is how we get the change.”
“How?”
“By flipping. Flip means the opposite. Flip changes everything.”
“But how?”
“What do we do when there is terrible cruelty?”
“Nothing.”
“Right. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“We flip. It’s the only way. We do not distinguish just from unjust, good from evil. We don’t judge or intervene.”
“But judgment comes.”
“Of course. People judge themselves. They see themselves truly.”
“So?”
“So pray for those who abuse you. Turn your cheek to one who strikes you. And you give more to one who takes from you. Pray for those who despise you. Do not despise in return. When people treat you wrong, treat them right. Be conspicuous.”
“It would take years of practice.”
“What do we have Jesus?”
“Years to practice.”
“Practice flipping, Jesus. Surprise people. Welcome provocation. Welcome attack. Change things, Jesus. Rather than hit back, flip!”
“Doesn’t this just emboldens enemies?”
“Let them be emboldened.”
“What if they chop off your head? You won’t have a head left to flip with?”
“People need to understand that the reward for their cruelty and evil is their knowledge of it. The reward to those who flip is their knowledge of what they did. One did harm, the other not.”
“In heaven.”
“Where there is nothing but beauty and truth. A reproach to the evil. There is another thing Jesus.”
“What?”
“Flipping is a fast way to change things. The more who do it, the more change there is.”
“Can you flip with your mind?”
“Of course, Jesus. You already do if you are cancelling debts.”
Jesus was saying the prayer all the time.
“Just begin to do it when you get into a conflict when the time comes.”
