I keep musing about the boat because we are once again in a boat that appears ready to sink. We are in two declared wars with connections to many other conflicts. We have a failing economy. And both of those pale compared to the fact that our planet may have exceeded its capacity to sustain our high impact life styles. There may be no solution that takes us back to what we thought was normal. This way of life may be done for. And, when our modern boats go down they wipe out the whole lake eco-system!
It is very comforting then to see this Jesus who continues to be at one with natural world, Who holds the universe in place by his thought. There is far more at stake here than our 401Ks. And it matters that we know how to turn to the Divine, even if we find ourselves chastised. We are not innocent victims in the current storm. We have lived far beyond our means and the capacity of the planet. We have been busy punching holes in our own boat! So, it is a metaphor that resonates with me right now.
S tells me the Native Americans may be about to finally win the war after all as the only ones who still know how to live without all the extras of our economy. I know we could have paid far more attention to what they had to teach us about the respect Creator God gave man for all life, before we told them they had to change what they called God and all their culture to match our Euro-centered supposed superiority. I don’t know if there is much hope in their corner either, the damage we continue to do may beyond what any of us have the capacity to deal with. I have seen up close how harsh our crushing of the Native life has been.
But, tonight I have two other thoughts. First I see hope in the change which becomes official on Tuesday. Maybe, just maybe, we have an opportunity to rise above who we have been and seek the people we have claimed to be. Maybe we have a chance to recognize others in the two-thirds world as our true brothers whose lives must also be cared for even now. Maybe we can stop to realize that constantly disappearing species are an affront to Creator God which even the most fundamentalist reader of scripture must acknowledge. Maybe we have a chance to come together and begin to look for a new path with a heart.
Also from a completely different angle, today I was reading a classic on humility and surrender and came across the scene of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, sweating blood before God in anticipation of what was to come before declaring the Divine fiat which restored us to relationship with God and empowered Him to endure the cross. Perhaps the only reason we do not use “fear” in describing this scene is that we fear it would be blasphemous. But, Jesus is upset here! He is in agony because He knows what is coming and how bad it will be. And, I do not think it is a stretch at all to say that like us He turns to God and says, “You awake? Can you help me here?” Then He obeys. I wonder if my pastor friend would dare to say Jesus needed to spend more time with Jesus, reading the scrolls, hanging out with the disciples, or going to temple?
L, hit it on the head as far as I can see. We are called to go where any sane soul would quake in order to do the works prepared for us. So we go, and we say without shame, “Hey Jesus, these waves are getting big!”
I do not see any human leader as the embodiment of that divine hope. But, I as I sit here tonight, I am hopeful that Jesus just might be answering, “I have given you a new leader, a new start, a new chance at hope, a new potential for relationship with the rest of the planet, so trust in Me but listen when he calls you to action.” There is work to be done and its our boat. I do not believe it will be magic or easy. But, I know the Savior who built, sustains, and loves the boat, and I sense new hope for what is possible with the leader we have chosen.
peace