Plans and Interruptions
It is said that life is what happens while you’re making other plans.
Very often, life is found in the interruptions that seem overwhelming: your
son takes his own life, leaving behind a financial trainwreck for his unprepared
children, his aging parents, and his siblings to sort out. All the survivors
already had full plates and plans, but creditors have valid claims and there’s
probate: legal fees and court costs cut into whatever assets may or may not
exceed the indebtedness. So, plans get put on hold, vacation time is repurposed,
and life is found in the interruptions. Grief, itself a different kind of
interruption, will just have to wait.
And then “church” happens. People gather round with words, shared tears, hugs,
food, prayers, and time, willingly setting their own plans aside and living
with you in the interruptions. They even open their wallets to offer
contingency funds.
But life doesn’t stop. It’s not put on hold. Life continues to move. Like
water, it seeks its own level as gravity pulls it over, under, and around any obstacle
that might interrupt its flow. Yet, we have choices. We can just let life flow,
in which case there may be floods and eventually it might dwindle down to a
trickle and finally soak into the ground and evaporate into the air, as the
Colorado River does below the final dam along its journey through Mexico towards
the Gulf of California. T. S. Eliot wrote, “This is the way the world ends,…
not with a bang but with a whimper.”
Or we can exercise some degree of control over the flow, damming it up to
create flood control, hydroelectrical power, and water conservation; or
dredging out navigation channels to provide infrastructure for transportation.
But even with our best efforts, we ultimately are dependent upon mountain
snowmelt and seasonal rainfall—measures beyond our control.
Metaphors aside, the only givens in life are birth and death. And to a
large degree, the quality of life depends upon how we deal with the
interruptions. We each are given, by genetics and by social interaction,
certain skills and strengths for dealing with life. Social interaction includes
family of origin—its support, abuse, or abandonment, learning environment, peer
associations, cultural and community values, etc. Too often the natural (if
there is such a thing) set of skills and strengths are skewed by physical,
mental, emotional, or relational trauma. So, there are no standards. Each of us
deals and copes; and at any given moment, we’re doing the best we can.
It is said, and I concur, that faith is a source of strength through life’s
plans and interruptions. For me, the element of faith that sustains and
strengthens is the community it produces. While I acknowledge every religious
and spiritual system as a source of strength, I speak directly from my
experience as a Christian. Jesus said one is known by the fruit one bears.
While the human interaction within each community intends and claims to
reflect the life and teachings of Jesus, there are more than 45,000 Christian
denominations globally[1], a
number that has grown over time due to factors like disagreements, cultural and
political differences, and differing interpretations of doctrine. So, which one
accurately reflects the life and teachings of Jesus?
My take is that the massive
diversity of Christian platforms indicates that the understanding of and
response to the recorded teachings of Jesus is skewed by the social and
political environment of the participants.
It is no secret that, regardless of specific doctrinal affirmations, Christian
ethics will generally reflect the dominant political climate of a given geographic
area. With some exceptions, Christians in the south and mid-west are more
likely to vote Republican, regardless of denominational affiliation, while Christians
of the same denominations are more likely to vote Democratic in the northeastern
and west coast areas.
The indication is that the ethics of American Christianity is more affected
by politics than by biblical consensus. It seems obvious that the regional diversity
of American Christianity is to be explained by some factor other than
biblical.
Perhaps the one element most common among all Christian communities is a
level of mutual concern and loving support within local congregations. Studies from
reputable sources consistently show that people who are regular participants in
such communities are more likely to deal and cope constructively with life’s
interruptions.
Maybe it’s because there is virtually universal consensus that kindness
is a core human value, and grief may be the only human experience universally
accepted as beyond our control. Grief can’t be blamed on laziness or
entitlement or fraud.
My wife and I are grateful witnesses to the healing and restorative
effects of kindness from a close and lovingly supportive church. With two
post-graduate seminary degrees and numerous hours of continuing education credits,
I have a reasonable understanding of the grief process; and after 57 years as a
pastor, walking through that process with hundreds of grieving persons and
families, we recently have been on the other side.
I have every reason to believe my faith alone would have sustained me. I
don’t speak for my wife; however, her life confirms (for me) that her faith
also sustains. Now, magnify that faith exponentially through the love and
support of a church full of people who love each other. We are grateful for the
love and support of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Conway,
Arkansas, and to the staff and colleagues of our Great River Region.
That’s the way it looks through the Flawed Glass that is my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
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