Uneventful other than a smoke advisory almost daily and lots of news about politics. There is so much that divides us, party platforms, vaccines, chem trails, drug interventions, you name it.
Such polarization can lead to isolation and apathy. When we feel alone, we can lose enthusiasm for life. When we feel unheard, or like our concerns are being ignored, we can feel helpless. When we have lost a loved one, or a home or a job or a livelihood or even our health, we may wonder what the meaning and purpose of existence is?
The disciples in the story of Acts 1 want to know when the world will become perfect. When will justice reign? When will peace be universal? When will warring and bullying cease? When will Christ return? And Jesus gave his disciples the very unsatisfactory answer that it was in God’s time not theirs. It was almost like saying, “it’s none of your business when perfection comes, your job is to let people know that we don’t need to wait for perfection to in order to find hope and courage in the face of injustice.”
Ouch! Gosh, Jesus, it’s not easy being a disciple! Especially not in the midst of forest fires and election campaigns. It’s not easy to challenge the stories we tell ourselves of what the world is like. It’s not easy looking for hope and love and courage in these times. It’s not easy to be drawing pretty pictures on sidewalks when they are going to be stepped on, ignored or washed away moments later. It is easy to tell ourselves stories of scarcity and helplessness against all that we face. But are these stories actually real?
I am watching one of my family members who is remembering who they really are. They have told themselves the basic story that they are stupid and have no friends and no talents. But one of their friends have asked them to preside over their wedding! And instead of retreating to their basic story, they are asking me for help in planning the wedding service. They are also remembering the many good times they did drama, sang in a choir, took a role in a high school musical that surprised everyone including themselves. They are remembering the accomplishments they succeeded at, and they are remembering that they have the intelligence and experience to tackle something as daunting as a wedding service! It is wonderful and beautiful to see them coming to the realization that they have more skills than they thought they did and remembering their accomplishments more than their failures.
We think in such black and white terms about ourselves and our neighbors, we expect and demand so much perfection. Someone recently said to me, “Well, the Ukrainians did terrible things too, before Russia invaded.” Like the Ukrainians were supposed to be 100% perfect in order to be blameless of the invasion? A much smaller and weaker country is expected to be perfect before we can be outraged on their behalf? Like if they are not 100% blameless, it’s their fault and the bully is justified in its action? It’s similar to when I say things like “I love my hybrid car and I hope my next one is an electric”, I hear comments like, “the province isn’t perfectly set up for electric cars so don’t bother.” Or “the technology isn’t perfectly innocent of environmental impacts itself, so you’re not saving anything.” Again, a basic story that says unless the progress is perfect, don’t try to make any changes. Go back to being a passive victim and don’t think you can make a difference.”
Walter Brueggemann, a world-renowned bible scholar and justice speaker once said that evangelism is the invitation to challenge those stories of hopeless helplessness. He said that the dominant story of our lives is one of therapeutic, technological, militaristic consumerism. Where buying the right kind of gadgets, which if you live in Texas, would be a semi-automatic assault rifle, is the only shopping therapy that really makes us feel good about ourselves. This kind of quick-fix basic story doesn’t require us to do anything except go shopping. It assumes that happiness is found in a credit card. If we think our credit cards will solve loneliness or war or division, we are sadly mistaken. We can’t buy or earn love, we can’t buy or earn perfection.
We can change our basic stories. Jesus wanted us to become a community centred in love and hope and trust and compassion and justice. He didn’t pray that we be perfect. He didn’t pray that we be identical to each other. He didn’t even pray that we would vote for the perfect party, heck, democracy wasn’t even possible in his time and place. He did pray that we may become one, become united in the principles of fair play, community and hospitality. He prayed not that we buy every shade of chalk that can be found on Amazon, but that we take our chalk and draw pictures of hope and courage and inspiration for all to see. The chalk drawings were a reminder that people do care about how we are being divided by fear and anxiety. They were a sign that someone wanted to do something to add beauty to our town. The artists were like disciples sharing a new story of inclusion and kindness. Whether we chalk it up to inspiration or a careful plan, we can challenge our world to see the hope and beauty that happens when we come together. Let us do like the chalk artists and Jesus’ disciples, do small acts of beauty to make our world more kind and just and loving for all.
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