“It is” refers to the
previous chapter’s subject. Aridity
equates being barren or unproductive because of lack
of moisture. Disenchantment forms when
one is no longer enchanted with something.
In this case, the author infers, that love has dried up and lost its
magic. People do not get excited by
lies. It’s not one of those things that
most people can’t wait to get home and tell the family about. Lies tear apart, tear down and tear out of
people basic and intrinsic happiness and contentment. Yet, when lies create an environment filled
with aridity and disenchantment the truth has not died. I’m reminded of my lawn as a means of
example. My lawn is green. I enjoy my lawn and the time I spend in the
yard brings me some measure of pride.
But, I have a problem. Part of
the lawn is filled with a renegade grass that goes dormant on me and leaves a
brown spot in the lawn. Oh, it’s not
dead! This grass has been called a lot
of names but never dead. The roots, when
pulled, can be several feet long. The
roots don’t go down but fan out horizontally spurring new growth as it attempts
to take over my lawn. I know that the
brown spot (love) only sleeps and will be awakened at the proper time. This is a truth I know! The disciples faced this dilemma when Jesus
was arrested, crucified and buried in the tomb.
The love of God felt suddenly heavy and even dead. What to do?
Let’s wait and see. Then 3 days
later the resurrection and love lives.
We can rejoice in the truth despite what we knew or experienced.
For those of you who either went through
the Great Depression or have parents who did, you know what aridity is. You’ve lived the life of no hope as the wind
blew the topsoil away. Families grew
disillusioned and gave up hope that anything good could come of this terrible
time in history. Soon the families that
were still alive moved on. Hearing
rumors of work or better times elsewhere they disengaged their life and sought
a new one. Families died staying where
they were and where they moved to. The
Great Depression changed the face of not only the nation but also the
world. When events such as this befall
us, we seek the answer to the “why?” question for which there is seldom a
truthful answer. So, we make up excuses
which are really only lies to give us a reason to have false hope. The Great Depression did not suddenly
overnight launch itself upon us.
Anything of this magnitude will slowly intrude into our lives until its
ready to drop the other foot. We are
left asking “What happened?” We haven’t
prepared for this disaster and don’t know how to deal with this event. Soon, those who were of some authority are no
longer listened to. The predictions
become dull hopes rather than rational thought of what would happen next. People gave up hope. When at its worst, hope died too. The hopelessness was like a swift disease
walking its way over our country. No one
was immune to its death like grip on mankind and the earth as well. After some time, the land rejuvenated itself
and everything but mankind went back to normal over time. Mankind never knew normal again. Life was lived under the shadow of what had
been. Decades later we still learn of
this person storing up should another devastation take place.
I’m also reminded of the story of Job in the
Old Testament. Satan approached God and
asked God for permission to inflict various hurts that were intended to bring
Job to a place of sin. The sin? The sin would be unbelief that God was in
control, doing what he needed to do. Job
lost his children, cattle and other animals and his wife. All his fortune was taken from him along with
his servants and their families. Job was
left alone with nothing but three ill advising friends. In the end Job approaches God and asks the
why question. God tells him that he is
the God who can do anything he wishes, and Job has no justification to ask
why. That sounds harsh. And harsh it is. Eventually, the Bible tells us, Job has all
that he lost returned to him. To be
honest with you I don’t to ever be in either predicament. Keep the Great Depression and Job’s lesson
away from me! Yet, misfortune comes to
many every day. Every day believers and
unbelievers alike as seemingly thrust into the fire or pulled out of the
comfort of their lives.
On June 13, 2009 I had one of those
experiences. The day planned wasn’t the
day ending anything like I ever could imagine.
I was scheduled to go into surgery for my right shoulder rotor cuff
repair. So, everyone did their job
prepping me for surgery. Eventually I
was moved into the operating room. Once
there I was asked to help move myself from the gurney to the operating
table. I’m a big guy and understood
their request. What I didn’t think about
was the small amount of anesthesia that has been given to me just before going
to that operating room. As I straddled
between the two beds the anesthesia hit me and down I went. I was out.
The attendants had grabbed the belt around my torso and kept me from
hitting the floor. I was placed on the
operating table and put in what they call the beach chair position. The surgery took way longer than anticipated
and I ended up being on the table in that position from 9 AM until about 5
PM. After the surgery I was taken back
to recovery where my wife was waiting for me.
When I woke, I was told, I was screaming of pain to my back. Then I woke up enough to remember what I
felt. I was paralyzed from the waist
down! What took place over the next week
could only be described as something other than medical care. Apparently when I fell the belt caught my
back and damaged the disc between my vertebrae in precisely the place the
nerves enter and exit for everything below my waist. Seven days later I left the hospital semi
ambulatory. I spent the next couple of
months trying to learn to walk again.
And I began to get mad. Never in
my life have I had so many professionals not been professional at all. The hospital and doctors denied that anything
had happened. Their care for the injury
post-surgery spoke the opposite truth.
What was once a respected practice now becoming suspect. And where was God when all of this was
destroying my life. My life became
filled with aridity and disenchantment.
The truth previously held seemed to fade away. For the next 3 years I shut down and climbed
inside my misery. Chose to not read my
Bible or pray. I did go to church. Mostly to please my wife.
Slowly, I came to the same point Job had
and was given the same answer. All my
life prior to this event was based on the belief that God was in charge and had
a purpose for all that happened in our lives.
That somehow these events would bring forth good where we (I) could only
see negative. Getting back to where I am
today has been a long and trying journey.
I’ve been able to see the professionals they are who do make mistakes
even as I do. I’ve been able to tell my
story to help others in their struggles.
So, good has come out of it.
Prior to this recovery it would have done you no good to remind me that
the truth would win. The truth wasn’t
even recognizable to me much less applicable.
My journey has brought about different perspectives in my life that
balance that which I experienced with that which I know to be true. Truth will always win out. We don’t necessarily like it when truth takes
a right at third base instead of going home.
However, we do learn to deal with it and go on. “Been there. Done that.” pretty well tells
the story of my life. If that was where
the story ended my life would be a sad one.
But, that isn’t where the story ends for any of us.
The Desiderata and the Bible verse on
love both want us to keep our focus on that which adds to life and nurtures
life. This is no big secret. The triumphs people have been more likely to
be told and retold than the bottom of the gutter reality of before. What do people think when we are down in the
dumps? Is there a consensus between our
friend, family and others that the best approach is a hasty retreat? In order to be a real people, we need to
evaluate whether we are willing to be there all the way through. You might be reliving your down times even as
you read these words. Your pain may have
surfaced in what you read. Perhaps the
phrases I have penned are the same ones you used. Maybe you haven’t made it out of the time and
place and feel stuck and hopeless. I
don’t know. These are what I felt.
The paradox is that Jesus has told us to
trust no man. He knows all our hearts
and can with a high measure of validity speak about what is in mankind. So, when he says that we should not trust
mankind; we should listen. We shouldn’t
even trust our own selves. We should
trust God even when we don’t feel we can.
A little belief is better than no belief. As I look back over my life I would
categorize my life as one filled with challenges. Consequently, those who were and are attached
to me were also filled with those challenges to one degree or another. It doesn’t seem fair but maybe, just maybe
God wants to teach someone else a lesson and has put you or me in the middle of
this lesson. We didn’t ask to be put
into that lesson. We certainly don’t
want to be there. We can only see the
smaller picture. The bigger picture will
only be revealed later to where we can see the necessity of our going through
this or that.
That truth will be revealed when it’s the
right time and place. We are only asked
to have faith that God is doing what he deems best for his creation. We are asked to trust that God knows what he
is doing. The people in the middle of
the Dust Bowl did not see anything that would tell them that God was in this event. Nor did they see anything that even remotely
resembled the love of God. What they did
see was abandonment in spite of their hope.
Eventually the hope was gone as well.
An arid and disenchanted people stood in dust up to their ankles and
showed no hope in their eyes. It
wouldn’t be until much later that anyone could be found to say anything
positive about the Great Depression.
Good did come out of that lesson.
Hopefully we won’t need to relearn that lesson…ever.
For me, the dormant grass of my faith has
sprung to life and though there are still lots of reminders of that event, I’m
focused on moving forward. When it’s
time, God will show me what the lesson was for.
Perhaps he has already done so and it’s in this chapter for you who
might be where I was or where I am.
In May of 1985 as a police officer I was
sent to a call of a suicidal subject. I
located him in a desolate part of the city where I worked. We had been told he was armed and approached
the call with that in mind. I began to
talk with him. Trying to gain his
attention I asked him questions that were innocuous. At one point he looked away from me and then
back to me. If I could just get eye contact,
we might come out of this alright. He
then looked out in front of himself and in front of me shot himself. Now if I was a character in a show on TV or a
movie on the big screen the incident wouldn’t have affected me, and it would
have meant back to work on the next case.
But I wasn’t a character on TV. I
was a human being living life through a real-time event. Unlike the TV or movie story, this was one
event that in reality ended a person’s life. I had training and wasn’t a newbie
out of the academy. Yet, here was one
event that was destined to bring havoc into my world. Why this had taken place and in front of me
was an unanswered question until the winter of 1998.
Now a pastor, I was sitting in my office
when my church chairman came into the office.
He talked a bit and then told me the story of his helping a lady who was
broken down on the freeway. He had
exited his car and she had done the same for her car. Her 13-year-old daughter was in the front
passenger seat. When she stepped around
the door of her van she was struck by a passing car. He body was thrown into the air and dropped
at the feet of my chairman. When he got
to this point in the story he almost froze.
In 1995 I was in an incident that resembled this one in 1998 that my
chairman was in. God now showed me the
answer to the “why” question. It was to
equip me to help my friend work through the issues that were plaguing him. You see, what we see as crazy or foolish God
sees as part of the plan. From 1995
until 1998 I did not know the answer to my “why” question. Then I did.
If we can look at events in our lives as having meant and a future
implication we would be in a decent place for God to work through us. If we have faith as a mustard seed, the grass
will grow green again. God is at work in
you and me and he isn’t finished yet.
Just as I have had this experience over and
over; I’m sure that there are those reading this who can say, “Amen.” When we link these experiences together we
begin to see the pattern of God’s hand in our lives and the lives of others. The event may be stopping to help someone on
the side of the road. It may be praying
for someone who is sick. Perhaps it’s
answering a repeated “why” for a 3-year-old.
In any case, we are part of God’s mission to the unsaved of the
world. We should take our calling
seriously. The picture is way bigger
than you or me. Do we live our lives in
such a way that would tell others they are important to God? Do we convey the immediate need for salvation
in their lives?
Men are different but the same. For the most part men are hunters and gatherers. They have in mind what they want, how many
they want and know where that item is in the store. They arrive and leave the dogs in the truck
(alright I like the stereotype) and enter the store. They don’t need any help and most attendants
do not ask. Men go into a store with a
purpose and that look is all over his body language. They walk over to the socket wrenches, select
one with their eyes, pick it up, go through checkout and go home in the truck
with the dogs. It’s not complicated
until a woman comes along. Men’s rules
are deemed null and void and the men begin to go to the arid and disenchantment
route. After looking at the same rack of
trousers (for him) he begins to wonder about the choice to go with her to do
this task. His pants size hasn’t changed
in 20 years and he always get the same brand.
She has had one over her left arm as she looks at different ones with
her right hand. Finally, she says,
“Let’s get this one.” And there is rejoicing in the truth. Truth has set them free and he can go
home. That is until next time. See, I told you the grass will always come
back.
How much you and I allow aridity and
disenchantment enter our lives depends on our choices. When we are “love” focused the two of them
should not enter the picture. There is
not a good reason for us to lose our faith in God. We make up a few bad reasons, but good
reasons don’t exist. God hasn’t
changed. He didn’t change through the
huge events in history. The Great
Depression didn’t change God. The wars
did not change God. My loss of the use
of my legs did not change God. God never
changes. He is always the same. God decided a long time ago that he was for
us. However, his being for us in
predicated upon our believing that he knows best, has a plan and wants the best
for us in his time.
While others engage the aridity and
disenchantment the Christian can rejoice in the truth. In both cases the love of God is
present. There will always be others who
see the glass at least half empty.
Others will engage in that which is contrary to God’s plan. I have.
Didn’t do well with my decision.
Then I made a better decision and things seem to be going well. Telling myself the truth has been a big part
of that movement in my life. Let the
truth about love be a big part of your life as well.
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