Responding to 2016
On my drive home tonight in the wee a.m. hours and the slush falling from the sky turned to white feathers, I was doing plenty of thinking. It occurred to me part of the way home that I was not stressing or scared as the road grew slushier and the white in the trees and on the ground became brighter. This is fairly significant for me. In just a couple of weeks it will be five years since a sudden snowstorm sent me off the road, the underside of my Escape caught on a culvert as I stared straight down at a ninety-degree angle into a cold, rushing stream. I have dreaded driving in snow or ice ever since.
I guess tonight I had other things on my mind.
As of midnight tonight, for the first time since I was twenty years old, nearly sixteen years, I am down to one job and no longer in paid ministry.
I've seen a lot of people mourning and bemoaning the year 2016. Many are disappointed and even angry over the state of our world and so many hot-topic issues. Wars, terrorism, natural disasters, celebrity deaths. Over and over I hear people declaring this to be the worst year ever, cursing it, and wanting to wash the year from their memories so they can move on.
A couple of weeks ago at Youth Group we took a look at the Coldplay song, "Christmas Lights". This song presents us with a bit of a melancholy look at the Christmas season. Something we are not used to. We are used to lots of joy and festivity, fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la. And yet even that very first Christmas was no "silent night" as Joseph and Mary, heavy with child, were on the road, unable to find shelter, forced to deliver the baby Jesus in a stable. The Roman Empire ruled and unjust local rulers lived off the spoils of the poor.
The Coldplay song reminds us that sometimes we get so caught up in the hype and traditions of the season that we forget that life is still happening, and it's not always pretty. Just because it's Christmas time, "the most wonderful time of year", doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to the things that make us uncomfortable, the tough stuff.
The other thing about the song though is the Christmas lights themselves... light... hope.
The thing is, I totally sympathize with those who are grieving the year 2016. Over the past two years I have been dealt many losses from professional to relational to health, including things I haven't even spoken of except to a very small handful of people. Unfair stuff. Really unjust stuff. These have been the worst, most painful and heart-wrenching years of my life, even more so than the horror of my 2008 month long hospitalization.
It's been really hard to see hope and light these days when every time you start to claw out of a funk you are sent reeling from another blow.
And yet in the midst of it all God sends me Christmas lights. Reminders from a character like Samwise Gamgee, "There's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for!" From slowly yet noticeably improved health. From the unexpected people who prove their character by standing beside you. From rediscovered purpose. From God's Word and Creation. Or even from a ridiculous comedy movie.
I remember seeing trailers for the movie "Keanu" months before it came out. I do not necessarily get into many comedy movies but this one caught my eye. It is about a couple of friends who get caught up in some drug gang dealings by a couple happenstance events. Basically, the one guy's life is falling apart and he is at his wit's end, ready to give it all up, when suddenly this little kitten, Keanu, enters into his life. He instantly falls in love with Keanu and his heart finds joy and peace and restoration and purpose once more. Unfortunately Keanu belongs to some drug lords so the two friends end up in all sorts of drama trying to get the kitten back.
I did not see this movie until just this past week. And as soon as I saw this scene I TOTALLY related to it! At the time this movie came out and it caught my attention I had no idea that a month after it premiered I would be adopting my own two kittens, Priscilla and Aquila.
I had wanted to adopt two kittens named Aquila and Priscilla, a male and a female, who would grow up together so that they would be super close, for nearly twenty years. In May of this year, in the midst of coming out of all sorts of heartbreaks, I finally found myself able and ready to find my two new friends. Named after the Apostle Paul's two close friends, Priscilla and Aquila, who served as "companions along the Way" for the apostle, my two kittens proved right away that it was they who have saved me and not the other way around.
When we are at our wit's end. When it seems everything and everyone is against us. When we have lost more than we think we can handle. When we find ourselves on the floor, unable even to stand.
Like I said, I can relate to those who feel their worlds have been shaken to the core this year. Who feel that 2016 just plain sucked. Who feel overwhelmed with bad news, with tragedy, senselessness, death, betrayals. I get it. But let's try, as hard as it is, to maintain some perspective. The losses are hard, they are downright devastating; the hurts are legitimate, and they are still pulsing, bleeding, open wounds. But in the end, they will be history.
I can also tell you, as one who was under multiple unfair and unjust assaults for two years straight, that even in the midst of "the end of all things", there were Christmas lights in the midst of the darkness...characters like Samwise... improved health... proven loyalties... God's Word, Creation and purpose... Keanu's, Priscilla's and Aquila's. And these lights are all the more special and precious because they were brought up out of the ashes of all that was lost and destroyed.
Because, just like if we allow ourselves to constantly hear the complaints about someone, then we, too, will only focus on the things that are being complained about and miss out on the positives. Because when we surround ourselves with negativity, we turn negative. The opposite can also be true. A friend of mine posted a request on her FaceBook on January 31: she asked for people to post one thing they were blessed by in 2016. I posted a picture of Priscilla & Aquila. Loads of other people posted their many blessings.
We must purposefully search for the Christmas lights. We must purposefully look at the blessings and remind ourselves of the things we are grateful for. Almost every time the good outweighs the bad if we just make the effort to see it. And we MUST see it. Otherwise we will forever linger in that place of bemoaning a simple year on the calendar, as though it had the ability itself to make us miserable. Look for the Christmas lights.
Like the plans to an evil Empire's super-weapon handed over to a rebel princess, they give us HOPE.
Thank you, Corey. My sister decided to choose one word for 2017. She chose "grateful."
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I once read a book that I am pretty sure was called "Attitude of Gratitude"...I have been wanting to reread it. It was a very inspiring book for me at that time and I kinda want to add it to my collection. I had checked it out of the church library. I can't remember the author or enough details to find it online so I guess I need to go visit that church library. ;)
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