Most Unconventional posts begin with a story or question, but let’s open with an extended quote by Robert Downey from a recent American Cinemateque ceremony. While receiving an award, Downey, well-known not just as Iron Man but for his previous struggles with substance abuse, gave some wisdom we can all use, in speaking about Mel Gibson:
“When I couldn’t get sober, he told me not to give up hope, and he urged me to find my faith. It didn’t have to be his faith or anyone else’s, as long as it was rooted in forgiveness.
And I couldn’t get hired, so he cast me as the lead in a movie that was actually developed for him. He kept a roof over my head, and he kept food on the table. And most importantly, he said if I accepted responsibility for my wrongdoings and if I embraced that part of my soul that was ugly — ‘hugging the cactus,’ he calls it — he said that if I ‘hugged the cactus’ long enough, I’d become a man of some humility and that my life would take on a new meaning.
And I did, and it worked.”
Gibson called us to embrace our ugliness, but what did he mean? Sin is ugly, and in each of us. So, we own it. We acknowledge it. We don’t deny it. We don’t hide it. We embrace truth. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
Honestly, I try to ignore some weaknesses, some sins, some cactus spikes. Yet, only as we embrace them can we reach forgiveness.
Like Downey did, we need to publicize it. Not hide it, but tell someone, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Another step here on the road to healing; a problem shared is a problem halved. That also allows others to pray for our cactus spikes, and see how prayer works.
But the most powerful tool to hug our cactus is the hard prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). On some of my weakness, I truly didn’t have a clue, until good friends pointed them out. God has also done the same. Have we the courage to ask God to show us anything that displeases him?
If sin is ugly, then let’s go on God’s beauty regimen.
Kick Starting the Application
How do you typically deal with your cacti? Has hiding or ignoring them helped? Think of a time when you embraced the ugliness as a step toward healing. Is there a particular spike you need to address?
PS There is quite a backstory to this, you can click this link to learn more. https://goodmenproject.com/in-good-faith/robert-downey-jr-and-mel-gibson-two-good-men-hugging-the-cactus/