Overcoming the Monster
We all face monsters. Like a scary story, this monster might very well be a creature, but it is rarely JUST that. The monsters we’re confronted with are more likely to be a system that devours, a pattern that traps, a fear that keeps us small, a story we’ve inherited about our who we are, or a power that demands our silence, etc. Our monsters can be external: injustice, violence, exploitation. Or internal: shame, self‑doubt, perfectionism, grief, despair.
In this story arc, the hero’s task is about seeing clearly, telling the truth, and choosing, with courage, a strategy for overcoming.
Looking at examples of this story:
- The Palm Sunday story is the story of a public act of resistence. Jesus stages a piece of street theatre that exposes the monster of empire: domination, economic exploitation, religious hypocrisy, violence as the default tool of power.
- The resistance that happens in Les Miserables is also about confronting systems of harm, poverty and oppression. And yet again, ordinary people rise. Just before the June Rebellion, a student-led uprising in Paris, the people are exhausted but band together with only their voices, their solidarity and their conviction that things must change, singing “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
Reflection Questions
- What “monster” in your life feels larger than you — a system, pattern, issue, or fear that drains your energy or diminishes your spirit?
- How does this monster exert its power — through intimidation, silence, shame, urgency, or the belief that nothing can change?
- What part of you does the monster target most: your confidence, your compassion, your sense of worth, your hope?
- Who stands with you in facing this monster, and what support or solidarity strengthens your courage?
- What truth needs to be spoken – to yourself or to the world – in order to weaken the monster’s hold?
- What is one small, real step you can take this week that moves you from fear toward freedom, from isolation toward collective courage?
What came to your mind?
Feel free to leave a comment about whether these questions were helpful or any of your thoughts as you reflected.