House building in times of uncertainty

They are like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. Luke 6:48

It’s easy when we are in times of uncertainty to let our worst selves take over.  People get snappish, grumpy, judgemental, knit-picky and angry.  They release their tension in the ways that they have done before, only there’s more tension in the air.  Even folks who think that this is an overblown hoax are likely to be more easily erupting into anger and irritability.  This little set of parables has so much challenge in it for just that reason.  It is very human to judge, it is very human to ignore my own problems and focus on fixing everyone else.  Especially when we are living in historic times.  It reminds me of the old saying from China: “May you live in Interesting Times”.  That, by the way, is not a blessing, but actually seen as a curse!

The story of the two housebuilders is a teaching Jesus gave us so that when the interesting times came, we would not be overwhelmed.  It is not about what other people around us do, he wants to focus on what I can do.  Steven Covey’s famous 7 Habits of Highly Effective People start with self-mastery.  Stop fretting about that sliver of sawdust in your neighbor’s or your family member’s eye and start working on the fencepost sticking out of your own eye!  It’s as true as when Covey wrote it in 1989 as when Jesus first spoke to a bunch of poor folks working to desperately feed their families from one day to the next.

My favorite role model of someone who lived this well was my father in law.  In 1953, Bob Rosborough, a young 26-year-old phys. ed teacher with three sons under 6 years old, woke up one morning and found he was paralyzed from the neck down.  He ended up being one of the few adults in the polio ward in Edmonton, a time where all the pools had been closed and many children impacted hard by this brutal disease.  And one of the last to be impacted as vaccines were just becoming available.  At one point the doctors doubted that he would ever walk again.

He, like many of the baby boomers of his generation, had drifted away from the United Church, but the principles they taught, the character traits they promoted, were deeply ingrained in him.  Principles that the bible calls the fruits of the spirit, love, hope, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Every single one of them became hugely important in his recovery process.  Without hope he wouldn’t have kept pushing through the pain of rehabilitation, without kindness, his students wouldn’t have rallied around him and his wife, babysitting the boys so she could visit her husband.

He had to dig deep and figure out how to parent rambunctious boys in different ways because he couldn’t run after them and grab them when they did something wrong.  He had to find patience as the family worked together to build his dream cabin at the lake.  And he had to find a new way to inspire students because he could no longer be a gym teacher at school.  He became a guidance counsellor instead, helping children for decades navigate that scary transition from student to adult.

It's time for us to once again dig deep into our souls.  What is the foundation upon which we have built our lives?  Have we built on strong rocks or loose sand?  Are we being shaken by the storm or do we have the ability to stay centered?  It’s never too late to build again, to dig down, to rebuild.  And it’s not about perfection – even Jesus had a moment of doubt when he was dying on the cross and cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  It’s about taking one moment at a time, and reminding ourselves that we are not alone in this situation, God is with us.