Deconstruction, the Cross, and Listening

Roy Harrisville's recent book, "Fracture," contends that that the Cross is incompatible with the worldviews present to the New Testament authors. Placed against other thought forms, it (possibly) deconstructs them.

For a while, I have seen listening as an act that resembles the Cross. I have relied on the definition of Carl Jung for listening--"becoming thoroughly at home in another person's thought world" (or something like that). The Cross is God living in the world he has created, that others live in, as well. The Cross is God listening to a suffering world.

Listening has the potential to deconstruct, as well. In illness narratives, listening provides a form of power for the sufferer over their illness, deconstructing that which threatens to deconstruct them. Listening can also unsettle the narrative of a speaker, opening new interpretations.

I believe this potential is akin to the Cross' potential for deconstruction: The Cross, if followed, shatters the worldview of those who approach it; it turns worlds upside-down. However, this leaves a vacuum: The deconstructed worlds, or narratives, of individuals need to be re-narrated; I believe this is the place for speech and resurrection to build new worlds, new narratives.