Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.
Graffiti. During this shelter in place mode of this COVID-19 season, I have been trying to take breaks throughout very busy, intense days. I’ve been getting in over 10,000 steps most days, and it has really helped. In the last few days, some indicators have popped up that express the stress some people are feeling at this time. On the rusty steel frame of a bridge I cross regularly is written in chalk, “OPEN THE USA” referring to our shut-down economy, as well as “VIRUS HOAX”, “OPEN SCHOOLS NOW” and ISOLATE THE SICK”. The same sentiment has shown up on patches of sidewalks here and there. To be clear, COVID-19 is no hoax. Try telling that to people who are struggling with it, or their families, or worse, the 50,000+ families that are grieving the loss of loved ones. Such language is deeply offensive and tone deaf in its insensitivity. Everyone wants to get out of this. Everyone wants is to be sooner than later. I really don’t think anyone wants more people to get sick or bring on a surge. We’re just simply stressed. The stress is real – real income lost, real businesses closed, real hunger in homes, real domestic violence increased, real sickness that lasts for months, real people now dead. No hoax on any level – this is real.
Face Coverings. I went to the grocery store last weekend, an errand I have worked hard to avoid given the work I do – I never know when I might be called to go into a situation with a compromised person so am staying away from everyone as much as possible. I put my mask on and entered the store and was surprised to discover that maybe 60% of my fellow shoppers were wearing face coverings. There were even some store staff members who weren’t wearing face coverings, or, when they talked, lowered it, making the covering moot. In one case, a couple walked by, the woman wearing a N95 and her husband wearing nothing. Weird. I felt pretty uneasy about the experience. In our neck of the woods, we know that the odds of acquiring COVID-19 are pretty remote. Homes are spaced out. Lots of room to get around. We’re not stacked up on top of each other like NYC. My unease wasn’t so much about the risk factors, which are impossible to calculate since many carriers don’t know they are carriers. My struggle was on what was being communicated by those not wearing face coverings. We know that face coverings are not great at preventing COVID-19 getting into your nose or mouth and on into your lungs. We do know that the face coverings significantly limit the distance the wearer’s exhaled breath travels. Instead of six feet of water-droplet travel, it’s half that or less. Given what we know and don’t know about COVID-19, while these “face-naked” people may have been exercising their right to take heed or not, their freedom put the freedom of the rest of those around them on the line. The same could be said about social distancing. Some take liberties because they hate the isolation and long for community. But when do our personal needs cross the line and infringe on the wellbeing of others?
Grizzly Bears. Doug Seus walked out the back of his Utah ranch and spotted a grizzly bear. It charged immediately toward him. There was no escaping what was about to happen. As soon as the bear was a few feet away, the 1,200-pound giant rose on his hind legs, soaring nine feet. The furry beast stretched out his front legs/arms and… gave Seus a literal bear hug. Seus, 78, is an animal trainer, and had raised Little Bart since he was a cub. He has trained a number of brown bears that have been featured in a range of movies you’ve probably seen. What would possess a guy to take such a risk in the face of such danger?
In a Boat in a Storm. Doug Seus’ calm in the presence of a being six times his weight reminded me of a story from Jesus’ life. He and his disciples had wrapped up a lot of teaching and serving along the shore of the Sea of Galilee:
Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side." They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?"
Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"
They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!" – Mark 4:35-41 (MSG)
When we read an account like this, we need to wonder about it on a couple of levels. First, thanks to how we have been conditioned by the modern Western world, we might wonder what the literal meaning of the story might be for the disciples and ourselves. Surely part of the intent of this recorded story is to give listeners confidence that Jesus was so deeply connected to God that he could do something only God could do – command the wind and waves to calm down! In this light, his power is the point. Jesus was known for being a miracle worker from third-party sources in antiquity, which matters. He wasn’t a snake oil salesman – something very powerful was at work in him. This increases our faith. However, the downside of limiting our perspective to this literal level alone creates problems when we face storms, cry out to God, and end up drowning.
There is another level, another lens, with which we can view this story. If we take the story as metaphor, which is simply going beyond the literal meaning of the text, a very big world opens up. Asking the question about what this text means beyond the black and white takes us to the very Jewish practice of Midrash practiced by Jesus, Paul, and all who were in the rabbinical tradition. Actually, even the most literal interpreter of any text goes to metaphor eventually, because as soon as we wonder what the implications are of a particular text, we move into this broader space. As an Eastern tradition, Judaism has always been more interested in collectively finding ourselves in and unpacking the story more than the logical analysis or formulas derived from the text – that’s a Western tradition (which is home for most of us).
Taking a more-than-literal, metaphorical approach to handling this story, we find a lot for our lives today. The disciples were leaving the shores of certainty, safety, and success, headed toward a foreign region that may be hostile. They left calm waters and encountered a storm. While the disciples were focused entirely on the raging storm around them, the one they had chosen to follow was sound asleep. At peace. Content in the middle of the storm. Disciples, by definition, are the students of a Master Teacher. Apparently, they skipped class at the moment until they couldn’t take it anymore and they realized they had better get Jesus’ wisdom. So, they woke him up. Jesus was present with them while the storm raged, and then spoke calm into the situation. The disciples learned a lesson beyond whatever literal thing took place. They learned that calm, peace, contentment is not determined by outward circumstances. Calm can happen even while the storm rages. I wonder who really woke who up that night on the boat. It seems to me that Jesus was the one who was “woke” in his rest while the disciples were the ones “asleep” as they were freaking out.
The point of the story is not that we should give up or take a nap when we really need to be attending to our lives. One point is that as we encounter storms of many kinds – and we will, one after another – we learn from Jesus, the Master Teacher, about how to stay grounded, focused, which allows for calm and rest. Learning and practicing how to do this takes time yet yields a life that brings with it many benefits physically, emotionally, relationally, and of course, spiritually. The question then: how do we get there?
A Grizzly Relationship. Doug Seus didn’t just wake up one day and decide to try petting an apex predator. He did, however, have a series of shifts in his life where his relationship changed. He shifted from focusing on bears (and other wild animals, too) as something to be feared to something to be revered. Fear leads us into increasing fight or flight reactions. Reverence, however, is all about respect, appreciation, and awareness. His relationship to the world changed from wherever it was to one where he recognized the shared existence between himself and the created world. Because he began seeing the world through that lens, revering it, he began treating it differently and experiencing even grizzly bears with calm and peace. How we see ourselves and the world in which we live impacts and informs how we relate to it. Seus woke up at some point and it changed everything for him.
Jesus was talking about a similar reality when he said a person needs to be born again to experience the Kingdom of God. He was talking about waking up to a very different view of life which changes how we see ourselves, others, the created world, and God. In contrast to other ancient cultures at the time, Judaism offered a very different view of God, creation, and humanity. The first chapter of the Hebrew scriptures (Genesis) starts with a poem describing the origins of all creation. It’s a poem written at a very primitive time – it’s not meant to be scientific. It communicates that the Creator is benevolent, creating from love and loving what was created, calling everything “good” along the way, and human beings “very good”. The earlier, even more primitive creation story follows in Chapters 2-3, where we find the Adam, Eve, Tempter, and Redeemer story. There we see God giving much to Adam and Eve both out of love. They get tripped up as humans do, lured by selfishness into destructive behavior and experience shame and guilt. God reenters the story not with condemnation, but with restoration. Consequences of mistakes were present (as they always are), but hope remained. They lived. Thrived. All helped by a God who loved them. How differently we would see ourselves, the world, and the people in the world if we started from this framework! This paradigm is what Jesus was referring to when he stated that the greatest commandments (which fulfilled all commandments) are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we view the Creator and the created with love and as lovely, we find ourselves grounded, rooted, founded in love. In a parable about building a house on rock instead of sand, this is what Jesus was talking about. When we follow Jesus’ lead in this Way of life and living, we are able to withstand the storms and be at peace in rockin’ and rollin’ boats. When we shift our eyes off of primarily ourselves and wake up to God who is everywhere and in everything, our attitude shifts, and so does our behavior.
Ray Liotta. In a recent interview in Men’s Journal (May/June 2020), when asked about the role that faith should have in a person’s life, he responded, “I think religion is more of a way of controlling, and consoling, people. Still, to this day the thought of what’s out there scares the shit out of me, but that’s only because I don’t have a real belief. My mom died in my arms, and my dad died in front of me, and that shook me. The older I get, the more I want to believe something is out there.” Ray’s experience is shared by many. At distinct moments in time, the Christian faith became really focused on orthodoxy as having the right beliefs when it should have been focused on believing in the right way. The first really is all about controlling and consoling. The latter is about life and living awakened, born again to a way of seeing that transforms our very lives and seeks the restoration of life everywhere for everyone and everything, all grounded in love.
Same Storm. Same Boat? CrossWalker and extraordinary human being Terri Conwell posted a writing on Facebook this past week. The author, while anonymous, is clearly awake. Here’s what it read:
I heard it said that we are all in the same boat, but it's not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal: a moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial & family crisis.
In some homes a sole occupant faces endless loneliness. In others, family members are getting peace, rest, and time with each other — while in still others, quarantine means an increased danger due to domestic violence.
With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.
Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0.
Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk and eggs for the weekend.
Some want to go back to work because they don't qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.
Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12-hour workday.
Some have experienced the near death of the virus; some have already lost someone from it, and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don't believe this is a big deal.
Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.
So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.
We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.
Just respect others when in public and be kind. Don’t judge fellow humans because you’re not in their story. We all are in different mental states than we were months ago. So, remember, be kind. – Author Unknown
A Model for Staying Awake. The disciples knew Jesus was tapped into the Spirit of God so much that the transformation was obvious. They wanted to know how to pray and asked him to teach them. He gave them what we call The Lord’s Prayer. While it’s a good one to memorize, it was never meant to be a quick, casual prayer we simply pull from rote memory. Rather, it was meant to give us a structure for our meditation to continually foster our becoming more and more awake. Instead of racing through it, take your time, spending time on each line/movement, reflecting on what is being stated and what it is inviting us to see.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed (holy) be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever.
Amen (may it be so).