HELLO!

I have been pondering in this vacation what I have learned in ministry, over these 36 years. First, language is important. As a preacher I know if I reference certain words or phrases, they will be understood in ways that depend on one’s theological perspective. In short, we hear stories about God through the lens of who we think God is. For instance, when I say we need to “let go and let God” there are many who will nod their heads and conclude what I mean is “Trust that God will provide”. But that is not exactly what I mean. God gives us freedom. God asks us to believe and do; that love is the most important commandment and reaching out to our neighbour in love is a primary task. Stewardship requires planning, analysis of how best and most intentionally loving, to fulfill our obligation to “do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God.”

When I say we need to let go of control, I am not suggesting a passive resignation of acceptance of the status quo. Some religious talk, of “let go and let God” does sound like pious passivity and runs the risk of confusing what is with what is meant to be. For me, “letting go and letting God” is not passive, it is an expression of citizenship in God’s reign, not Caesar’s reign. The earliest Creed was three simple words, “Jesus is Lord”, grounds for treason in the Roman Empire. Those powerful three words were a free and courageous response to “Caesar is Lord”.

If we cannot control life and death, why do we spend so much time trying to control smaller outcomes? When we set ourselves up to think we deserve, expect, or need certain things to happen, we are setting ourselves up for constant unhappiness and a final inability to experience the blessings, the opportunities, of now. Giving up control is a school to learn compassion and understanding. As we face social uncertainty, economic fragility, and the vulnerability of our own bodies, there is something deeper we can affirm, that can ground us in disruption.

Theologian Gerald May defines willingness as distinct from willfulness. “Willingness implies a surrendering of one’s self-separateness, an entering-into, an immersion in the deepest processes of life itself. It is a realization that one already is a part of some ultimate cosmic process and it is a commitment to participation in that process. In contrast, willfulness is a setting of oneself apart from the fundamental essence of life, in an attempt to master, direct, control, or manipulate existence. More simply, willingness is saying yes to the mystery of being alive in each moment. Willfulness is saying no, I will fashion my own purpose.”

I will continue to pray for, work for, plan for, justice. But when it comes to idols and temptations or illusions, I know am called to, “let go and let God”. I am grateful that among my many flaws “getting my way” is not one of them. I long ago let go of “us and them”, of getting “my way”. The still small voice I hear is, “we are all in this together”. Peace, Kevin