“Resilience: Taking
Responsibility”
Deuteronomy 30:11-20; Psalm 16;
Romans 12:1-8
A Sermon by Carla Pratt Keyes
Ginter Park Presbyterian Church,
Richmond, VA
June 24, 2012
It was not the first time the people of Israel had needed encouragement –
the time about which we read in Deuteronomy today. They had spent some forty
years in the wilderness of Sinai – part lost, part trapped, often tired and
frustrated, wondering out loud if they should have listened to Moses, or should
have stayed with the life they’d known in Egypt, hard though it was. The people
had needed encouragement before, but never more so, perhaps, than as they stood
at the edge of the Promised Land. They were, finally, face-to-face with the
Jordan River, chilly and cold. Face-to-face with the hopes and fears of all
those years they’d spent waiting to cross it. Face-to-face with the fact that their
ancestors had stood in this place once before and had chickened out, basically! They’d lost confidence in God and
themselves and had returned to the wilderness because of it. Now these
Israelites faced significant questions about God: like, whether God had the
power to restore their fortunes? Whether God cared enough to do so? They faced big questions about themselves,
too: whether they were capable of
loyalty to God? Whether they believed in the
destiny of Israel? Whether they would dare
to taste the milk and honey of a new
land, or play it safe, with manna in
the wilderness. The people to whom Moses spoke were demoralized and unsure;
they needed a path of hope. Moses pointed toward that path and, as passionately
as he could, he urged them to take it. “Choose life,” he said. “Choose life, so
that you and your descendants may live.”
In his reflections on this text, Old Testament scholar Ronald Clements says
that the Israelites on the border of the Promised Land had something in common
with their predecessors (who had messed things up before) and their descendants,
who read Moses’ speech years later (and once again in exile from the land). What
they had in common was that they felt more despair
than hope. “Despair of the future is a kind of social disease,” Clements says.
Whether that social sickness is a consequence of the turmoil and ruination
caused by warfare, as [the author of Deuteronomy had] witnessed, or whether it
is caused by deprivation, unemployment, and social alienation, [as so many in
this country have experienced recently] the effects are very similar.
Hopelessness generates despondency. It deenergizes and dehumanizes persons so
that they no longer reach to grasp the possibilities that life brings. It
generates impulses of self-pity and self-condemnation. It begins to regard
death as a welcome release instead of the closure of the period of opportunity.
So the appeal to faith and hope [offered in Deuteronomy – the exhortation
to “Choose life”] is not merely a religious appeal to generate support for
religious enterprise, [Clements goes on. It is the antidote to despair about
the future.] It is an appeal to seek out the deep [and positive] wellsprings of
human ambition and to expect the future to be open and desirable. It is an
appeal to discover afresh what it truly means to be a human being.[1]
If you were here last week (or have
read the note in the bulletin) you know that I’m exploring aspects of human
resilience in this brief sermon series. How is it that some people, when
encountering challenges and adversity, cross into the Promised Land with
confidence? What helps people – even struggling people – avoid the pitfalls of
despair and see the future as open and desirable? What enables humans to
embrace hope? In part, it is the notion that life puts certain possibilities in
front of us, and we have the ability – the power – to grasp them. Resilient
people believe they can “take control” of their lives by taking responsibility
for their thoughts and actions, by choosing
what they will think and do. As Moses might say, God has set before us life and
death, blessings and curses . . . and God invites us to choose life. Resilient people know it’s within their power to make
that choice.
How do we, as Christians, understand that God
has given us the gift of being in charge of our life and behavior? It’s an interesting
question. As we were choosing hymns this week, Doug Brown observed that there
are a lot more hymns about how God is in control than there are hymns about the
human power to shape things. Why is that? We know, for one thing, that we are
limited, sinful, and fallible creatures, working alongside other limited,
sinful and fallible creatures; our ability to choose and manage things exists
within this context of limits, sin, and error. What’s more, we, like the
Israelites, stand at the border of a land we can inherit, but for sure didn’t earn. Salvation is ours
by grace, not because we are brave or capable or good. As Professor Clements
says about the Israelites as they stood on the verge of Jordan: only one thing
remained for them to do; all else lay in
the power of God. Nevertheless, this one act was the key; it would enable
the Israelites to pass through the doorway God opened for them – the doorway of
hope. They had to choose life.[2]
And so do we.
God frees
us from the wilderness for the Promised Land. Frees us from sin for obedience. Frees
us from despair for hope. The key is to choose it – to choose life. And we pray
God will help us to do so. I’m reminded of Reinhold Niebuhr’s old prayer, best
known as the prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous: “God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage
to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
The courage to change the things we
can . . . to choose life when we can.
Years ago, a woman named Catherine Royce wrote about her determination to choose life in the face of the illness that would
cause her death.
I have spent my life typing on a keyboard [she said], but now I can no
longer use my hands. Every day I sit at my computer speaking words into a
microphone instead of typing. [Three years ago] I was diagnosed with ALS, Lou
Gehrig's Disease. Over time, this disease will weaken and finally destroy every
significant muscle in my body. Ultimately, I will be unable to move, to speak
and, finally, to breathe. Already, I am largely dependent upon others. So every
day I review my choices.
Living with ALS seems a bit like going into the witness protection program.
Everything I have ever known about myself — how I look, how I act, how I
interact with the world — is rapidly and radically changing. And yet, with each
change, I still have choice.
When I could no longer type with my hands, I knew I could give up writing
entirely or I could go through the arduous process of learning to use voice
recognition software. I'm not a young woman. This took real work.
Interestingly, I write more now than ever.
Every day I choose not only how I will live, but if I will live. I
have no particular religious mandate that forbids contemplating a shorter life,
an action that would deny this disease its ultimate expression. But this is
where my belief in choice truly finds its power. I can choose to see ALS as
nothing more than a death sentence, or I can choose to see it as an invitation
— an opportunity to learn who I truly am.
. . . So far I have discovered many
unique things [about myself], but one stands out above the rest. I have discovered
in myself an ability to recognize, give and receive caring in a way far deeper
than anything in my life before. I have always been an intensely private and
independent person. But now I have allowed a wide circle of family and friends
into the most intimate parts of my life.
Previously, I would have found such a prospect appalling. I would have
assumed that living with ALS meant a life of hardship and isolation. Instead,
because I believe that I always have a choice, I opened myself to other possibilities.
And now the very thing that at first seemed so abhorrent has graced my life
with unaccustomed sweetness. It was always there. Only now I have chosen to see
it.[3]
She’s chosen to see and seize life’s possibilities.
Usually, our choices are
more mundane than Catherine’s (though perhaps no less important). Peter Bregman
got me thinking about my daily choices in an article he wrote for the Harvard
Business Review. The world moves so fast, he said. There is so much to
understand, to think about, to react to.
So [many of us
try] to speed up to match the pace of the action around us . . . .But that's a
mistake [Bregman says]. The speed with which information hurtles towards us is
unavoidable . . . . But trying to catch it all is counterproductive. The faster
the waves come, the more deliberately we need to navigate. Otherwise we'll get
tossed around like so many particles of sand, scattered to oblivion. [Thrown
back to the wilderness, you might say.]
Never before
has it been so important to be grounded and intentional and to know what's
important [and what’s not important.]
[As an example,
Bregman cites a study of car accidents [and what happens in a car right before
an accident. It was found (no surprise)] that in 80% of crashes the driver was
distracted during the three seconds preceding the incident. [It wasn’t always
the cell phone. Some people changed the radio station, others took a bite of a
sandwich. The point is, they lost focus.] Then they crashed . . . .
[Bregman
suggests we make two lists to help us focus. I’ll describe them as Bregman does
and as Moses might.]
List 1 is Your
Focus List (the road ahead)
What are you
trying to achieve? What makes you happy? What's important to you? [What has God
written on your heart? What leads to life for you and the people around you?] Design
your time around those things. [Choose
them in whatever way you can.]
List 2 is
Your Ignore List (the distractions)
What are you
willing not to achieve? What doesn't make you happy? What's not important to
you? What gets in the way? [Or, as Moses might ask, What calls you away from
God? What leads you to lose hope in God’s gracious promises? What diminishes
your experience of God’s good gifts?
Review [these two
lists] each morning, along with your calendar, and ask: what's the plan for
today? Where will I spend my time? [How might I follow God’s path of hope? How
can I choose life instead of death?] [4]
Sometimes we help each
other to choose life instead of death. We’re shifting gears here, but I want to
tell you a story about Ruth Brown (a member of this church, to whom I will later
invite you to write notes of encouragement). Ruth wrote us recently about the
struggles of women in Congo to take charge of things most of us take for
granted. Ruth described how twice in one month she had visited the homes of
women recently widowed and had found each woman sitting in silence and
alone on a straw mat in the corner of a room. After a husband’s death, Ruth
says, the tradition in Congo dictates that a widow sit on the floor for forty
days. During these forty days, the husband’s family can come and claim all her
property. They also sometimes humiliate her by forcing her to drink a mixture
of ashes and water.[5]
Ruth has been partnering with churches in
Africa to promote gender
equality and the education and economic empowerment of women. She applied for,
and recently received, a grant to support, among other things, efforts to
promote marriage licenses that
will protect a woman’s property rights should she become a widow. Why is Ruth
doing this? When Ruth set out for Congo, she said that she hoped to
support the ministry of churches there in such a way “that more people will recognize that all people, regardless of
nationality, sex, age or physical abilities, are blessed creations loved by God
who have full citizenship in the Kingdom of God.”[6]
All people gifted with life and love and responsibility.
To recognize people that way (to see ourselves that way!) is one of
the most important choices we make. To see how we are citizens of God’s
kingdom, beloved by God, brothers and sisters in God’s holy family, members of
Christ’s own body, gifted for a purpose. All of that can be essential. As we
face life’s challenges, as we stand at significant crossroads, as we wake to
days full of choices, we act as God’s
people. And God both invites us and empowers us to choose life.
WEEK 2 - QUESTIONS FOR
REFLECTION
Resilient people tend
to believe and act as if they can influence the events taking place around them
through their own effort. In other words, they believe and act in ways that
show they are “in control” (at least to some extent) and able to manage things.
How do we understand that God has given us the gift of responsibility for being
in charge of our lives and behavior?
Some things to consider
and try:
One very basic thing we
can usually control is our breath. When we are stressed, our breathing becomes short and
labored. We can begin to relax sometimes just by taking a conscious breath, all
the way down to the diaphragm. (If we fail to breathe deeply enough our bodies
sometimes compensate. Have you been yawning or sighing these days? It might be your body saying, “More oxygen,
please. Try breathing!”)
Frequently
there are things we tolerate – the indecision, the mess of life, small things
on your list you haven’t gotten around to doing. These things take up mental
and emotional space; they pull at us and leave us feeling fractured. Make a
list of 25 things you’re tolerating – garden tools you haven’t put away, the
doctor’s appointment you know you should make, your indecision about
late-summer plans. Whatever. Tackle three of them by this Saturday, and
continue to chip away at the list until it’s gone!
Be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Consider: how do you tell your story? How do you explain
the good and bad things that happen to you? How do you speak of resources and
opportunities available to you? What do you say to yourself over and over? Is this what you really believe? Do these stories, patterns, and mantras serve
you well? Do they lead to life? - to a closer, better relationship with God?
If not, work to change them. (Changing our stories is hard work. There are good
books that address it. One I’m reading is The
Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte.)
Consider making “Two
Lists You Should Look at Every Morning” (this, from Peter Bregman’s article of
the same name) and planning your days based on those lists.
List 1: Your Focus List
(the road ahead)
What are you trying to
achieve? What makes you happy? What's important to you? (I might add: What
leads you more fully into the life God offers you? What reflects the designs
God has written on your heart?) Design your time around those things. Because
time is your one limited resource and no matter how hard you try you can't work
25/8.
List 2: Your Ignore
List (the distractions)
To succeed in using
your time wisely, you have to ask the equally important but often avoided
complementary questions: what are you willing not to achieve? What doesn't make
you happy? What's not important to you? What gets in the way? (What leads to
death (or diminished life!) for you, and for others around you? What leads you
farther from God’s purposes for your life?)
[1] Ronald Clements, “Deuteronomy,” New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol 2, p 514.
[2] Ibid, 512.
[3] “I Always Have a Choice,” by Catherine Royce,
December 4, 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6560320
[4] Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning, by Peter Bregman, May 27, 2009,
http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2009/05/two-lists-you-should-look-at-e.html
[5] https://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/missionconnections/letter-ruth-brown-congo-03-14-12/
[6] https://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/missionconnections/brown-ruth/
