My friend was recently in the hospital.

The doctor came by to read his history then administer a new drug. A short time later my friend became violently ill. He summoned the nurse who came and examined the I.V. then immediately stopped administering the new medication

The nurse then consulted the physician who was puzzled about what happened. Soon it was determined the doctor had given my friend the wrong medication because he had mistakenly read a different patient’s history. If things had gone unchecked, my friend could have died. It’s what happens when we pay attention to the wrong story.

The world around us constantly gives us the wrong story. It’s a fearful story. We’re told we should be scared; that other countries are overtaking us, that immigrants and refugees are threatening us, that gays and lesbians are ruining our values, that “minorities” are stealing away rights. This story of fear plays to our lesser angels. It harbors distrust and anxiety. And it always leads to control because that’s what fearful people do.

But there’s another story. It is based on humanity’s best attribute, which is our capacity to love. It believes in care for others, acceptance, generosity, openness, curiosity, and hospitality. It urges us to trust and have faith. This story is harder to believe because it appeals to our better angels, and listening to them is not our default setting. Ultimately, this story is not about control, but about mutual trust, reliance on one another, the presence of the divine, and letting go.

The hard work of the Gospel is for you and me to pay attention to stories that are more like the second one. The stories of faith rooted in love – it’s because those are the true stories, for love always wins, even over death.

So we do well to ask ourselves about the stories we’re listening to – the scripts we’re living by. At the risk of sounding too simplistic, are they stories of control or faith? Fear or love? Let us be diligent to discern for the right stories around us and listen to them.