sacredmargins

This is a week where all three of us had originally committed to writing on Pentecost, but considering the weather events in Moore and Granbury over the last couple of weeks we naturally have our thoughts lingering in other places. The tornado in Granbury hit the town that I called home for the last six years before moving to Fort Worth and the Moore disaster is Trevor’s hometown and Allen’s soon to be home in the next few weeks. So, understand our thoughts are a little consumed with these communities right now.

And, much has been written and “tweeted” over the last few weeks responding to these tragedies. And I guess all of us feel compelled to respond or speak to what we feel is true about these situations.

Writers are gonna write. Theologians are gonna theologize. Jerks will be jerks.

Sadly, the internet is an unfiltered and boundary-free way for the above to express themselves – most often at a whim.

Human emotion is a torrent, a wave of reactions and justifications giving birth to angels or monsters. These emotions are given to us by God to survive, defend, and live. We need these emotions.

Yet, the tools at our fingertips that express these emotions make us quite dangerous. Our tongues turn into fingers striking a keyboard sending our thoughts into the nether regions of 1’s and 0’s for complete strangers in unrelated contexts to interpret and digest.

We react, react to reactions, and find ourselves consumed with feeling like we should defend or support certain interpretations of these storms. Our thoughts turn to God and scripture and we want to make those our words to use for comfort or justification.

This is where I find so much power in the quiet. When we calm and silence ourselves we can start to see where God is at work in the midst. Even after Job’s friends sat for days in silence, they still seemed like fools trying to explain why God would let this happen. In fact at the end, God tells them to be quiet so he could speak.

How long should we stay quiet? I’m not sure. But it seems to me during times like this, our words have a better likelihood of betrayal than the simple work of our hands and feet bringing us down to our knees.

So this week before you post or tweet, spend some time in the quiet of your heart looking for where God is in all of this. Take those words off the screen and into your hands and feet finding ways to bring God into these disasters.

This might be a week where your silence could be louder than any words you could say.

Let’s hear your silence.

I began yesterday looking for God in the quiet and mundane. But yesterday was not mundane. I’m sure many of you, like me, spent the evening watching the images from Moore, OK. Staci & I sat silently observing the images from a community that we will be a part of in less than 2 weeks.

So much wreckage. So much pain.

Today we have no words. We are simply left with numbers. Too many injured and too many lost. Our hearts are with everyone affected by the tornado. We pray for those that will be the hands and feet of Jesus on those damaged streets.

As the rain hides the stars,
as the autumn mist hides the hills,
as the clouds veil the blue of the sky,
so the dark happenings of my lot hide
the shining of your face from me.
Yet, if I may hold your hand in the darkness,
it is enough, since I know that,
though I may stumble in my going,
you do not fall.

From A Book of Prayers, Praxis Publications, 1999

Our daily reflection for the last week of Easter can be found here. 

Over the last few months I have periodically shown a video to my groups about a rock climber named Alex Honnold. The first time I watched this video, I squirmed in my chair, just like I suspect you will. This climber climbs without ropes, and does so on the most difficult routes in the world. Sometimes I will show this video to students to get the conversation started about choices, support, and relationships. Really, this video will get people talking.

Inevitably, another topic comes up with students as we discuss this video, and usually I have to point it out. The sheer magnitude of what this guy is doing tends to overshadow a quote he makes between the 9:06 and 9:45 mark as the interviewer challenged his mindset as he takes these incredible risks. What is interesting is how he confidently states that he knows what he is doing while also admitting that he might not have the ability to know how dangerous his actions are because he is “too close”.

So, this discussion tends to come down to perspective. And in any real self-examination, we all need a healthy dose to really see what is going on.

A young man (whom we will call John) was in one of my groups at an alternative school we serve weekly. He had been sent because one day he lost his cool with a student who had been picking on him and beat him up. The student he beat up also threw punches, but never ended up getting in trouble.

This mistake cost John a lot. He was a stud wrestler and a great student. He didn’t have much of a disciplinary record yet got kicked off the varsity wrestling team and put himself in a bad position with his grades. John felt slighted and was obviously upset about what had happened.

John was a good participant in groups, but I felt like he had something weighing on him as we worked through group each week. On week 6 of our curriculum we ask the students to chart out their previous six weeks on a graph with the other students to reflect on the “ups and downs” of their lives. This exercise is a powerful way to reflect on our reactions to successes and failures. Apparently this exercise had a profound impact on John.

The next week John came back with a different demeanor. At the beginning of group he shared about an “Aha!” moment he experienced in group the previous week. As he charted out his last six weeks he realized that he had never really recovered from what he perceived to be an injustice in his life. He had been sulking and feeling like a victim while the rest of his classmates had found ways to overcome their struggles. A weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt like he finally accepted what had happened and made the decision to move forward despite the injustice.

For John, perspective is all he needed to make peace with a difficult decision. As we reflect on the Holy Spirit this week, I think about the ways the Holy Spirit brings perspective. Honestly, I don’t have the capability to discern much in this life. My days are spent navigating complex relationships and situations, all the while trying to figure out what role I play. The Holy Spirit has been my guide in showing me how life works and where God is already working.

I’ve never been able to understand the Holy Spirit as a magician or as a power broker. Yet when I understand him as a guide and shepherd, the perspective thing makes a lot more sense. The Spirit whispers truth and meaning as we navigate the complexities of life.

Just like the climber in the video, we all need some perspective. I can think of many times when the right person or group walked beside me and helped me understand something. But in the end, I think I just really need to lean into the Spirit.