THEOLOGY IN THE TRENCHES
By Kathleen Kjolhaug
The Stuck Church (Remnants of a Trip to Guatemala)
“It’s important to live life from the perspective of reception rather than being reactive in any given situation.” This quote came from a husband/wife psychologist team I listen to on the radio from time to time. I listen in whenever possible because they are cool, calm and collected. They speak daily and people from all over the United States call in. It’s free advice, free wisdom, another birdseye- view upon the world and it’s fascinating to hear what they have to say. Their rationale is from a Christian world view and I learn.
The quote above was good advice and the thought of being receptive sounded better than the flares that fire up from within when being reactive over things I have no control. Being receptive is apparently living with arms wide open when something happens that you are not expecting. Opening up to the Lord and asking Him— “What do you want me to learn from this situation and how can I respond to it in a way that reflects the best You created me to be?” In other words, how can I stay tuned in to Your perspective, Lord, and trust that You have the best interest in mind for all involved.
It all sounded good alright, until I was descending a mountain from on high in a foreign country with a plane to catch. As our van load of travelers enjoyed the magnificent surroundings while descending the mountain, there before us, was a stuck truck. I mean, it was going nowhere and neither were we. There was no way around it; it was hogging both sides of the road as it failed to make the turn. This was no ordinary truck. It was a huge semi loaded with things for people up the mountain. We needed to go down, and it needed to go up.
Once we stopped, most of us within the vehicle did the only logical thing. We piled out of the van and gawked. We marveled at the men yelling to one another as they gave commands as to what they thought the trucker should do. They weren’t yelling at one another in anger; they just couldn’t hear one another above the loud noise of the truck.
I looked at the time and calculated that it might be a long journey back up the mountain from whence we’d come…and a long time coming before we could get another flight out… and it looked to be a long time before that truck was going to be able to get up and running anywhere. As the traffic began to pile up behind us, hope gave way to every negative thought about what could be the result of this happenstance.
However, another unexpected turn came when what looked to be an impossible situation changed as inch by inch that truck began to move. It gave one last mighty try and sure enough was soon out of our way. The total delay time was not much more than about ½ hour and soon, we were off— “like a dirty shirt” (as dad would have said). As it moved up, we were able to move down and to make it more clear as why this was so important….there was no other way down the mountain. This was the route and we were either going to make it, or we were going to have to turn back.
From our vantage point we believed the driver had been remiss in trying to pass another on the road and thus, got stuck. However, once we were on the other side and into the area where the truck had been, we saw the other side of the situation more clearly. The driver had been a victim of a mudslide and was merely trying to survive without causing more damage to the vehicles coming and going. In fact, ultimately, had it not been for the truck blocking the road, other smaller vehicles may have skidded right off the mountain.
So, in the end, perhaps when we are receptive to believing the best about situations people find themselves in, we will become less reactive in our conclusions attached. Putting our personal presuppositions about others in life—and the circumstances surrounding them truly doesn’t do much good for any involved..
One of the commandments states that we are not to bear false witness against our neighbor. Of this I had been guilty in my thoughts and no doubt in a few words I let escape from my mouth while waiting to see if that which was before me would cramp my style.
Rather than bearing false witness in thought, word, and deed, perhaps we might turn to 1 Cor. 13:12 for better reception. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. So now faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.” Amen.
