Learning to Just "Stand There"

This past week has been something of a new experience for me. All I’ve done is sit in logistical sessions with 40 other people. But yet this week has made me feel completely incompetent, overly excited, humbled, in awe of others, like I don’t fit in, and like I’m part of something magnificent all at once. It seems like every 15 minutes there are more questions that could receive days of thought; my mind has been on overload. And many times it’s because something was said that convicted me to the core. But for a start:

“In our desire to help others, we often do more harm than good.” There was a story about a woman from Kenya who came up to a missionary and asked her to put in a word for her so that she might obtain a visa to the U.S. so that she could relocate. Even though she was pleading, the missionary said “no”. The missionary went to the church representative to tell him about the situation and found out that that woman had tried so often that the high commissioner in their country had her on his list. Had one more American asked about this lady, there would have been no chance for her to relocate. Ever. Through other circumstances that went through correct channels and with appropriate cultural norms, this woman is now living in the U.S. and doing well. The point was that we need to spend time in our countries and cultures and learn about them and their system and respect it in every way. People will ask for many things, believing that we can do whatever they ask. But if we try to act on our own and in whatever ways we deem worthy, without a clear understanding of how that culture operates and what has been done previously, we often do them more harm than good. What does that do to our understanding of Jesus? People so often label him as kind and compassionate, when there were many instances when it seems like he was anything but that. How does this concept fit into that?

“Don’t just do something; stand there.”

“God’s mission is to restore community with the world.”

“If you are in a losing streak, don’t play fantasy baseball. Go back to the basics.”

“Bread and wine in the hands (of Father Delatorio) is an instrument of revolution.”

“We can’t just continue to do things the way we have because we think it’s the same old…we have to understand the culture, which is under construction.” What if that were applied to those of us still working at home…

“Accompaniment”. The underlying belief in global mission in the ELCA is accompaniment. What does it mean to accompany people?

“It’s about humility…it’s like a novel. The story is not about us. It’s God’s story and the plot is God’s mission in the world. Neither the story nor the plot are about you. The principle characters are the people in the country where you serve. Your service is about being a minor character in a major novel. You are privileged, however, to contribute to the story and the story line is richer for your roll, small though it may be. Remember, you are not called to be great or important. You are called to be faithful. Embrace the humility.”

There have been so many other things that have been brought up that I can’t possibly expound upon. I could talk for days just from what I’ve been given in the past 4 days, and I have 2 ½ weeks to go yet. And theoretically we are just now getting into the conceptual stuff. However, as a closing thought:

“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Failing Fools

I overheard someone complimenting another this morning with the words, “…that’s why he’s so good at what he does. He’s not afraid to make a fool of himself.” I find this interesting. It’s not a new concept; in fact, it’s one that I’ve heard exhorted many times. That in order to be really great at something, you have to be willing to not only fail, but fail with flair.

I am generally not someone who is willing to fail. It’s actually something that I’ve been anticipating coming up in one of my first conversations with my supervisor in a few weeks. “What are you hoping to get from this experience?” “The ability to fail.” It’s not so much that right now I never fail, but the fact that I try not to put my self in positions in which I believe I will fail. I never do anything that I don’t know I can already do to some degree of competency. This generally doesn’t work if one wants to get anywhere.

This, of course, begs the question – where are you trying to get, and why? Why should I need to “get” anywhere? It’s one thing to continue to change over the course of life because that’s just what humans do, whether they want to or not. Situations and experiences and conversations and people shape us. But it’s another to seek change. And for what benefit? The faith would teach us that we don’t become “better” and that God loves and saves us no matter where and who we are. So the point? None that I can see. And yet it is something that is generally upheld as a virtue: the desire for and the accomplishment of growth. The need to be “great”.

So is there really an impasse? Can we embrace failure for the sake of learning and not for the sake of greatness? Can we fail others for the sake of others and not simply to “further” ourselves? But at the same time never actually aim for failure? Is it possible to truly accept the change that happens in ourselves that comes as a result of life, yet not try to create “inner change” ourselves? What would that look like?