If I were to name one of the great losses of the 21st century, I suppose I would name the loss of certainty. Not much seems to be a given anymore. We cannot be sure that working hard and paying our bills will lead to security. We cannot know for certain that a good education leads to a good career. Being free doesn’t allow us freedom from poverty. Even the things that used to seem so concrete are no longer so – the icecaps may not survive, we can no longer assume safety in public places, and the institutions that used to make up the core of our country are found weak and unstable. Surely, there is no greater time for God than these times. Yet even our beloved religion faces an uncertain future. Sounds a bit dismal, doesn’t it?
The problem with uncertainty is that it can force us to go one of two ways – we either slip into a denial that things are changing and we grasp desperately to what once was, or we face things head-on, suck in our breath, adopt a fatalistic stance, figuring we have no control anyway so we might as well get through it.
And yet – we follow Jesus Christ who throughout his life taught a third way. When faced with the choice between violence and passivity, for example, Jesus taught that the power within was greater than violence and often more useful than our passivity. When facing the Roman Empire’s demand to quiet down and the Jews’ cry for a conquering Messiah, Jesus offered a third way of humility and strength, love and servanthood.
So, following Christ as our model, perhaps in these uncertain times we, too, can find a way that gives others and us something to hold on to. Perhaps what we hold on to is an awareness of possibility, of growth, of transformation that brings life and wholeness, and maybe even a miracle or two. When things change, we are given an opportunity to see things differently than before. We are given a window in which our world can expand, our vision can be stretched, and our hearts can be broken open to love even more.
With economic uncertainty, we can see the potential of new ideas that launch new industry and individuals learning to reinvent and market themselves. We can also see a redefinition of what it means to succeed and a recasting of who gets to define the American Dream. The uncertainty of our environmental health brings the potential for new scientific discoveries and a new awareness of just how important our treatment of the earth is. The lack of safety in public places is causing us to do the important work of re-examining our individual rights in light of our most precious commodity, the human life, and weakened institutions have thrown a light on poor business practice and corruption that simply needed to be unveiled.
Change is upon us; there is no stopping it. But with that change, by the movement of the Holy Spirit, also comes new life. To quote Sister Joan Chittister,
Conversion is the opening of the heart to the grace of new possibilities. It does not blame God for plotting nefarious plans to test and try and torment us. It recognizes in the glory of new life that God simply companions us, simply stands by ready to receive our tattered, restless selves, as we are tested, tried, and tormented by the machinations of life itself. God guides us to new life by allowing us to open our eyes to the possibility and find it for ourselves.
(Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, pg. 25)
Lori
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