Well, it’s that time of year again.
It is the time of year when the antennae of clergyfolk in the United Methodist Church are exquisitely attuned to every minor shift in the wind, every minute rise or fall in barometric pressure, every nuance of conversation.
Yes, this time on the calendar – from late January to mid-April(ish) or so – is APPOINTMENT-SETTING TIME! That means it is the time of year when it is possible for any United Methodist pastor to answer a phone call and hear the words, “Hello (insert name here). This is your District Superintendent calling. I have an opportunity I would like to discuss with you. Is now a good time to talk?”
Even though I am now retired and blessedly aloof from that whole business, I still feel sympathy pangs for my brothers and sisters of the cloth when this time of year rolls around. I am still haunted by vivid memories of tensing up every time the phone rang and a certain suspicious area code showed up on Caller ID.
For pastors in the United Methodist Church, this is at least a three-month exercise of walking on – no, LIVING on – eggshells.
At the root of the anxiety that attends appointment-setting time is the very real fact that almost no one likes change. Not even pastors. We humans seem to be willing to do anything in our power to maintain the status quo… even when the status quo is patently unacceptable.
And when the pace of change in the world around us accelerates, our desire to hold onto something solid and unchanging zooms up proportionately.
It may be that I am more aware of this since I am well into my dotage, but everywhere I look today, I see change:
- The technology of living (telephones, TVs, appliances, automobiles, banks, grocery stores, etc.) is changing.
- The climate is changing.
- The country’s (and the world’s) demographic contours are changing.
- Social customs are changing.
- The political, religious, cultural, and moral landscapes are all changing… with some changing more rapidly than others.
- My own health and the health of those close to me is changing… and mostly not for the better.
- Heck, even the rules of my favorite games – baseball and football – are changing.
In that kind of a topsy-turvy world, I can easily identify with the urge to slow down the merry-go-round or jump off of it completely. And yet, there is a HUGE difference between being annoyed by the pace of change (which is most of us… with the exception of babies with dirty diapers) and actively working to hold back its tide. The effort to stop or roll back the changing face of society is the urge that lies at the core of all of the world’s regressive movements.
But as much as I grouse and whine about change… as much as I dredge up stories of “the good old days,” I have to stop and remember… this is not my ride.
It is not mine to control. It is not mine to resist. It is not mine to counter-program or attempt to sabotage.
“This…” in the words of the ancient psalmist, “… is the day the Lord has made.”
This is not some warped, funhouse-mirror parody version of the day the Lord meant to make. This is EXACTLY the day the Lord has made.
On purpose.
In that case then, we should follow the rest of the psalmist’s advice that says: “… let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24, NRSV).
AMEN.
One of my favorite courses in college was Pottery 101. We started out the class by learning all about the properties of clay. We then learned about shaping it into small, simple patterns, firing it in the kiln and coloring it with various glazes. But the real draw of Pottery 101 was the chance to try our hands at shaping that wet, luxuriant, earthy stuff on a genuine POTTER’S WHEEL!
Russellings of the Spirit 