My Fellow Pilgrims

Lenten Disciplines and Making the Grade(s)

I have gotten so little sleep this week, doing report cards.  My guys get narrative report cards.  I have written 52 pages for my kids this week.  I haven't had time to breathe, much less think, much less be still and know that God is God.  Hmmm.  Something is just not right about this.  My goal was to write a short devotional daily for Lent.  Last weekend I was ouut of town and away from the internet.  This week, did not even get to check my email 3 days.  Maybe that wasn't a bad thing.  So desperately want to get back in the habit, with the few remaining days.  Peace, be still.

FREE FORM

i am just getting thoughts down on "paper" as i flow with my words and my mind, no forethought to hinder or control only just the flowing from my fingertips into the ether.  it has been a rough week emotionally, tragedies abounding and friends grieving.  not knowing what to say, what is there to say, only being with them.  listening.  turning over new leaves are never easy, especially with the left-hooks flying in surprise.  i have been noticing more and more the emotional triggers that trap me into old patterns and scripts that i need to let go.  running this constant emotional "spell-check" is draining, but i am learning so much about myself and about those i love and interact with daily.

Lord, more than resolutions, let me be resolute.
Help me to be the follower of your Son that I should be,
want to be,
need to be.
Lord, I give you this day, freely.
Forgive me for the times and efforts that I should not have,
and also for the times and efforts when I do not do what needs to happen.
All these sins of commission and omission.
Thank you for your grace.
May the gift of this day be a present to someone today that needs to unwrap it and open up you.
Amen

The Myths of Control

The word "Myth," in this case, is used as it often is.  A fallacy, a wrong understanding, or a lie.  I hate using it this way, but there is a myth (a story by which we live and shape our actions) that we can manipulate, influence, coerce, force, leverage, or make something happen.  If you haven't figured this out by now, I have some bad news for you.  This dream of control is a myth, in the falsehood sense of the word.

Think about it.  Have you ever tried to get an animal that has "lost it" to do what you want it to do?  Whether a dog, a donkey, or at worst, a cat, trying to force something/somebody to do something they don't want to do requires the use of excessive force: physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual.  Is this the actual desired outcome?  Do we want something so strongly that there is a need to subjugate another to our will, or, is there a better way?

It is my premise, that control is an illusion.  We act as if it exists and promote it as a means to our desired end.  At some point their is a subjugation or a departure.  Our end might be achieved, but is the cost in our initial intent?  The Machiavellian Realpolitik view is that the "end justifies the means."  My argument, however, is that if that is the case, then the ends are not truly achieved.  There is a harsher, darker version of our original intent, no matter how "good."

Okay, enough speculation, what does this look like?  War is a perfect example.  We want something.  Our enemy defies our wants.  We, and they, have a choice.  Several, in fact.  A dance of choices take place, some small, some major.  All in an interplay towards outcomes.  Osama bin Laden and his ilk desired to shape and change our culture and systems.  They could not do direct confrontation, but they tried to control from manipulation through fear: terrorism.  We responded with like force.  We control (actually attempt control) so as to alleviate the fear on our part.  We attempt to rid ourselves of our anxieties through projecting political, military, and economic strength.  We do unto others as they did unto us, or we do unto others before they can do unto us.  We attempt control, so we can feel more okay.

Is there another way?  Think of Gandhi's nonviolent movement in India.  The choice to confront attempts at control from the British were confronted by the realization that:

1. The drastic minority could not control the vast majority without the majority's consent (voluntary subjugation)
2. The way to confront the violence (implicit and increasingly explicit) is not without a price.  Their are desperate costs to confronting the violence of a system based on "control."

As we follow a path away from controlling to a system based on respect and appreciation.  There are times and places for control.  When I get in my car, a dangerous hunk of steel when I am out of control, I want and need it to respond quickly and safely.  A three-year-old running into the street needs to be grabbed.  A rabid dog needs to be put down.  Controls are a need.  But the attitude of being controlling is not.

Perhaps, our myth (a story by which we live and shape our actions) of control should be that we can only control ourselves.  And, self-control is a whole different topic.  We cannot remotely control any other being, and neither can they control us without our explicit or implicit consent.  In future, I'll look at the implications of this on Free Will, Atonement, Community, and Ethics.  But, already I've written too much for today.

Pax and Namaste, fellow pilgrims.  I trust your journey will be light today.