Category: Community

In Praise of Doing Our Best

Lacking perfect solutions for pretty much anything, most of us do our best. With a new school season upon us, parents, teachers, everyone involved is striving to do what is best, in spite of, in some jurisdictions, politicians who obviously are just doing their best to look out for their own interests. In fact, they don’t give a poop about anything else.

Church leaders I know are doing their best. In most situations I am aware of, churches are going slowly and very carefully in opening their buildings again, even though they are allowed to, with certain conditions. Meanwhile leaders who are not at all familiar with the technology and new approaches are learning new ways. I admire that. They are doing their best.

Speaking of church, in that setting you may have encountered people with pet ideas or projects or worship elements they have an interest in that you recognize right away really do not fit with your organization’s stated mission. They may say, “Well, God can use it.” Yes, God can. But this is what I call a “sun is hot” argument. You know, someone arguing something says, “Would you agree that the sun is hot?” You say, “Uh, sure.” They say, “Well then, you must also agree that …” Silly? Sure. But there are persuasive, influential persons who get away with this kind of argument all the time. 

We are to offer our best, not just count on God to make the best of what we do. That is an insult to God, and to people who are really struggling to do their best in very trying circumstances.

This is no time for an “Oh well” attitude, or “I guess this will do” approach to anything. You are doing your best. It’s worth it.

A Gift to One Another

There is a movement afoot to rename a well-known Toronto street, Dundas, because this particular Mr. Dundas is known to have worked, back in England, to obstruct the abolishment of slavery. It is one of a multitude of instances we are all seeing of the re-assessing of the appropriateness of names attached to streets, monuments, various buildings and places. Good.

We might also take an evaluating look at the practice of naming things after people in the first place. There is, of course, the potential that the person being honoured in this way might turn out not to be quite as honourable as thought, even as another time might judge one to be honourable.  It may even suggest to some that this is how you live on. You become successful and you live on as a street or a shiny building.

Silly? Maybe to you and me, but I wouldn’t discount it. Especially when a long-standing pandemic in this world is a lack of self-worth over against a world of material obsession. Consider the first thing we think of when it is asked what a person’s worth is.

There are thoughtful people who sense that our being is tied to something much bigger than anything our memory could be tied to, that our consciousness is tied to a reality beyond ourselves. More specifically and personally, there are those who live in confidence of a promise that is  more reliable than anything we experience as reality: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).

Each of us has the power that is to be found in its relinquishing–relinquishing power, that is. We live instead by grace, accepting–in contrast to much of the spirit of the world being protested against–that we are a gift to one another, and we live in anticipation, by that grace, of a greater, more enduring community to come.

Something New in the How of Things?

There are two very different kinds of alliances revealed in recent times. 

1. Alliance in Support of Power

My impression is that there is one set of alliances at work to support certain interests existing in small towns and the chalets of the ultra powerful. Their core value and raison d’etre: white supremacy. They work through political channels and the workings of familiar social media and unfamiliar (to most of us) dark net sites. And they have prominent hiding-in-plain-sight agents. 

The point: The function of one set of alliances is to promote survival strategies of an elite who believe in and work for a very narrow and ultimately oppressive idea of what it is to be a human being. 

2. Alliance in Support of Principle

There is another alliance we have seen at work–on the streets of the United States, around the world, in big cities and small rural towns. It is a disparate alliance working not for power interests, but for principle. That principle seems to have to do with the equality and dignity of all humanity. And, not to over generalize or principle-ize it, it is focused on the very specific, long-standing, and supported-by-the-powerful, systematic abuse of blacks. It is making headway.

Dare I hope that not only is this specific thing being effectively addressed, but that something new is happening in the how of things? Real change seems to be coming, and it is not through conventional politics and its power-wrangling found everywhere from cabinet rooms and legislatures to too many town and church councils.

It is necessary to remember, however, that the best-intentioned alliances consist of human beings. This is both a strength and a vulnerability. It is essential, therefore, that in this, as in everything, we support the best in one another.

Humanity 101

What does (did, since he was killed) George Floyd of Minneapolis have to do with an Ontario long term care resident left with pressure sores, and/or in an environment of feces and cockroaches, crying out for hours?

What do both of the above have to do with, for that matter, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)?

They are viewed and treated as less than human. It is widely recognized that seeing someone or a group of someones as less than human is the first step toward abuse. It could also be a spouse, a child, a homeless person.

“Human” perhaps applies to political party donors, well-connected cronies, or simply people who are “like me” (whatever that might mean). 

It ought to be especially disturbing that those who view some as less than human consider themselves people of faith. Apparently only certain people are made in the image of God.

Overwhelmed?

A recurring word these days: overwhelmed. Medical workers, first responders, long term care personnel together with residents and their loved ones, parents working at home and home schooling, people with no work, or no home–well, pretty much everyone is overwhelmed.

Along with the expression of being overwhelmed, we sometimes hear, “God won’t give you more than you can bear.”

Sure, you might say.

The saying seems to be a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which actually has to do with not being overcome by temptation. The “way out” referred to has to do with the power of community support.

The connection to our setting may be that the support for the Corinthians rests in a community of believers even across time. So why not also across space? Finding help in this depends on a power to connect beyond what we consider normal. 

Whatever, or whoever, you attribute it to, you and others are finding ever new means and resources for being together while physically apart.

I have just used that word: normal. There has been lots of talk about a new normal. We should not sell ourselves short on our capacity to alter our inclinations, in order to find a new normal a positive reality, however natural we would consider our present inclinations. Inside the human skull is a universe of possibility. We just have to tap into it.

Add together (1) a power to connect us–some of us would consider this spirit to be divine in origin, character and being, together with (2) a conscious suspension of clinging to what we consider normal, and we are well on the way not to be overwhelmed. We are, beyond that, setting ourselves up to flourish.

Nothing will replace the warmth of physical nearness  for comfort and encouragement. But we have mind and spirit that make possible infinitely more possibilities. 

Choose Infinite Possibility

When we work together there are infinite possibilities. That’s an observable truth. From the perspective of faith, it should be no surprise. We have been given a world in which we have everything we need. We have been given minds and hearts to make loving use of it all. It is all meant for the sake of living in community — with one another and in partnership with all of creation.  The possibilities are boundless.

It doesn’t take much thought for anyone with even half a heart of caring to recognize how valuable it was for Alberta to release medical equipment to other provinces. School children are undertaking projects to help food banks and help fund Personal Protective Equipment for front line workers. The examples, as you know, go on and wonderfully on.

There is, however, and sadly, another kind of possibility. It could be characterized, broadly, as opportunism.

Coronavirus Coups.  That’s the term that’s been used to characterize the actions of national regimes that go far beyond what is necessary in having enhanced powers to deal with the pandemic. They take it as an opportunity to grab powers, with no end date, that enhance their dictatorial predilections. Then there is some price gouging here and there, and looting of closed retail locations. Yes, opportunism. 

Any moral person recognizes the beauty of one and the ugliness of the other here. But it goes deeper. Opportunists among us, you take many forms. Know that you are cheating yourself. There is a simple equation to this. Work together: boundless opportunity and possibilities. Go it selfishly and opportunistically alone: Initial success of some kind, perhaps, but ultimately constriction and dead ends. It is not “just the way the world works.” 

The way the world works has been shown not to be working. We must not go back to what we have known if that’s what’s “normal.”

Littered Path

You no doubt have been disgusted, rightly, by the news shots of gloves and face masks discarded in the parking lots and on the walkways leading from grocery stores. The thoughtless grotesqueness of this is in stark contrast to the heroic selflessness of so many others.

I have heard it said that we are always in danger of crossing a line that makes us less human, or even less than human. This may be one of those lines.

The Biblical creation accounts give expression to a humanity created for community–with God, one another, and all created, abundant life. Any littering is of course harmful, potentially unhealthy, as well as ugly to the senses. Those committing this particularly egregious form apparently do not care, in addition, that they are stepping away from their own made-for-community nature.

The path to inhumanity is paved with litter

Caring Will Endure

A crisis brings out the best and worst traits and behaviours. On one hand, we are warned of coronavirus-related scams. But we also see companies retooling to produce ventilators and personal protective equipment, and people making a point of showing appreciation for frontline workers. 

How will I conduct myself? has always been a question in time of testing, and may be just beneath our consciousness as we try to absorb the enormity and implications of the current crisis. We can fret internally over this, or focus on the everyday practical measures we keep hearing about–and need to–to help keep ourselves and others safe. If we believe love is at the heart of everything (see the beginning of John’s Gospel), then everyday caring is how we exercise that deep truth in a practical manner, and experience some peace and assurance in the doing.

The scammers and opportunistic leaders will have their day. It is caring that will endure.

Controlling the Narrative

The public impeachment hearings that have been held in Wahington over the past two weeks should be important to take in But are they? The drama going on may simply be between, on the one hand, establishing truth to act on (or not), and, on the other hand, simply engaging in a nasty battle over who controls the narrative. In other words, it’s all about what it’s all about.

It could be argued you’re not missing anything if you haven’t seen any of it. After all, you live it every day.

Do you live your own truth? Decide what that is? Do your best to live it? Or accept the most appealing narrative of the most compelling influencers–personal, political, or commercial?

It is almost Advent in the Christian calendar. You will find (still, at least in some churches) Scrioture employed that focuses on ultimate things, with Jesus talking about his Advent to come (e.g. Mark 13).

Advent celebrates that we have the opportunity to know, now, the one who is yet to come.

There is truth. Truth will win out. Truth matters. That should be obvious, but apparently it is not obvious.

And oh yes, there is an accompanying major Scriptural theme in Advent, drawing on scenes with John the Baptist (e.g. Luke 3). He anticipates Jesus’ own warnings against leaders who are obsessed with their power and status, and with controlling the narrative of their people and their time.

It will not end well for such people in any age.

Connected for Peace

What does it mean to be “well-connected?” Most of us probably associate the term with status, getting ahead, knowing the “right” people. Okay, so that all may have its place. The trouble is some of us adopt that as our way of dealing with people generally. There are some very successful-looking people around who have no authentic relationships because the only way they relate to others is to see other people as means to some end. They are, then, constantly posturing, putting on the right practised face, using the set lines and platitudes they have in their repertoire for any situation. How sad.

Such connecting means objectifying people. It’s no different than what countries’ tyrants do to their people, some employers do with their employees–or some employees do with other employees. And when we objectifying people, well, it’s the first step toward any sort of abuse we may find useful. Or it just make us feel powerful. It is at the heart of why there is no real peace in the world. We don’t know how to connect, or, more likely, don’t want to.

The Apostle Paul said, “Let love be genuine” (Romans 12:9 NRSV). Well, that’s not really saying anything, you might observe. He might as well say, “Let love be love.” But the sense is, “Don’t just play a role” (the Greek behind this coming from the world of drama). In other words, Connect for real. He goes on in Romans 12 to list important qualities to that love, that real connecting, in which we actually relate to one another as human beings, created and loved by God.

If we practise this real connecting, it will not only be great for us and our releationships, but may work back into our larger connecting, and the way the world around us connects with itself. It is connecting for peace.