So this week has progressed slowly for me, and that is a blessing. While the ‘pea-sized’ growth has been removed from the inside of my left elbow, the tight-wrapping that is left behind, is slowing me down for me for a number of reasons—the most obvious reason being a diminished ranger of motion because the bandage is so tight (but it comes off tomorrow so I will be back to normal by the weekend). While I have been unable to write as quickly as normal, what I do have is the opportunity to read and think. . . Both disciplines I think are necessary in a polarizing time such as this.
Part of my thinking has revolved around the practicality of building a community—which is a topic that I have addressed this week. I do not just want to give holy lip-service to the idea, and say something like, ‘can’t we all just get along.’ I do affirm that we need to come together, but instead of just affirming this, I wonder how do we practically come together in a way that defeats political rhetoric and judgmentalism, and opens the way for the needed conversations of our day? If we are called to be the church, and that means listening and caring for ’the least of these,’ then are their practical things you and I can do right now to advance that?
For instead of arguing and over analyzing social media posts, and/or whichever news service you watch regularly, I wonder if there are habits that we can form that will help us navigate toward being God’s people?
Some years ago, a professor of mine recommended the book, You are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, by James K.A. Smith. And since her recommended it, I bought it. I have flipped through the first chapter before, but had not, until this week, sat down and worked through Smith’s argument. I am glad to have the time this week. In the chapter addressing Christian worship, he writes:
"In this way the gospel isn’t just information stored in the intellect; it is a way of seeing the world that is the very wallpaper of our imagination. Stories that sink into our bones are the stories that reach us at the level of the imagination. Our imaginations are captured poetically, not didactically. We’re hooked by stories not bullet points.. . Stories sink in.”
He goes on to say that the stories which we read, and share with each other, have a way of inhabiting us long after we finish talking. They shape how we interact with our world. So instead of entering a conversation, and being ready to go on the defensive based on our beliefs, the shared-stories invite us into a deeper conversation and reflection. In this way, standing in the nursery school this morning listening to the teachers share their stories from this week, they are not stories about Democrat vs Republican. Instead their interaction, and their reflection, become stories wondering how they are going to raise their children in a polarizing world that judges so quickly? They are stories about the wisdom of a 4th grader who is teaching his parents something about being kind in an unkind world.
You can hear a lot of stories if you are willing to listen.
And so a couple days when I could not type on my laptop, becomes days when I listen more deeply to people. Because as I think about it, from my perspective in the church, that is exactly what Jesus would do if He was walking with us. . .
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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