Now Discern This: Consider the Onion

Consider the onion.

A whitish-yellowish bulb, sequestered in the moist soil, absorbing sun and sulfur to survive. Wrenched from that muddy bliss and peeled back one layer at a time under the watchful eye of my waiting knife. Slice, chop. As those onions cells are cut apart, enzymes meet sulfuric acids leading to the release of a chemical gas that wafts up and into my waiting eyeballs.

Tears, then, and curses. Red eyes and a scrunched up face. The knife becomes less precise in its haphazard swing as I insist to myself that dinner prep must go on. Dice, slice.

Consider the onion. Consider the fact that — at least in my house — it provides the base of nearly every meal, from stir fries to chilis to omelets to tacos. Consider the somewhat ludicrous, insistent act of releasing sulfuric acid into my eyes every single day, sometimes more than once.

And yet, I love onions. I love how the house smells when I sauté them, lathered in an array of pungent spices. I love the texture they add to omelets, how they taste when caramelized or roasted, what they add to nearly every meal.

Consider the onion. But more to the point, consider the discomfort it demands before giving way to something delightful.

Does the onion have something to teach us about the Christian life?

Not so long ago, we celebrated the Incarnation, the ultimate act of discomfort in which Jesus empties himself of what it means to be God so as to fully embrace all it means to be human. Not only that, but the Blessed Mother makes a pilgrimage on the back of a donkey while nine months pregnant, giving birth to her baby in the dust and dirt of a stable. And Joseph, we can only imagine, is spending his time frantically trying to discern how best to keep his small, vulnerable family safe — first, from the elements and then from the murderous rage of Herod.

Discomfort, it seems, is not strong enough a word to describe the fullness of the Christmas story. But it does remind us that ours is a God who is both insistent and persistent about breaking through the illusion of comfort to bring compassion, mercy and peace to all people, particularly those who know no comfort. Ours is a God who does not sit on the sidelines but descends into the heart of the crowds, who dwells among those society deems unfit and unnecessary and who insists that yes, here, in all this grime and dirt, this agony and hardship, Emmanuel: God is with us. And don’t forget it.

We are made in the image and likeness of this same God who embraces the path of discomfort. This is our path, too.

We began this reflection with an onion and its very small, very inconsequential offering of discomfort. But I believe that it is in these small moments of discomfort that our work begins and is sustained. It is in these small gestures of discomfort that we prepare ourselves for the hard, joyful work of the Gospel: tearing down walls and building up bridges and declaring with resonant voices that each and every one of us is the beloved of God. And that yes, even here, even now, God is with us. Emmanuel.

Because we know, ultimately, that this is the work that brings about God’s dream, the reign of God. That discomfort of the onion leads to a home full of delightful smells and tastes and a meal shared around a common table.

What discomfort are we called to today? What will our small, seemingly inconsequential part be in breaking through discomfort to delight and God’s ever-unfolding dream for our world, a dream that is meant for each of us?

Eric Clayton is the deputy director of communications at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. In his role, he manages the award-winning weekly column “Now Discern This,” a series on Ignatian spirituality and everyday living, as well produces video, audio and other digital content to share the riches of Ignatian spirituality with a general audience. Eric is also the author of two books on Ignatian spirituality: “My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars” and  “Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith”, both from Loyola Press. A third book on Ignatian spirituality and peace is forthcoming from Brazos Press in 2025. Learn more: ericclaytonwrites.com.

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