A couple of weeks ago, I was at a meeting on one of the lakes in the region. It was a blustery day with clouds rolling through, the sun peeking through less and less as the morning went on and the wind was rising. The lake was getting choppier and by noon, the wind was whipping up white caps on the waves. There was a point where it looked as if rain was coming across the lake but it never came.
I took time during our break to walk outside on the deck overlooking the shoreline. As I walked along, I noticed a group of ducks floating near the shore. The five or six young ducks were almost the size of the mother but they still puddled together in the water staying close. All the same, in spite of the choppy waves, they just floated closely together as family group bobbing up and down as the waves came to shore.
I stood and watched them, amazed. They didn't seem ruffled at all by the wind and the waves; just at ease to float where ever it took them. There was no squawking or trying to change positions to get to the inside of the circle and not one of them tried to leave and get out of the water. They were content to be together in spite of the rough water and chilly wind and water.
Now I don't know what those ducks are capable of thinking or feeling and I don't want to put human words or feelings into their mouths. But I have been thinking about them since. I think they can be a parable for us in these rough times as a church and world-wide economically.
There are many people who react to these rough waters with a lot of anxiety; as the anxiety rises, it is a normal reaction to want to find a way out, to find shelter. Other people seem to take it as a personal affront. They feel that their rights to the good life are being stepped on and so they tend to squawk loudly but the justice they seek is their own and not on behalf of others. Then there are the people who are into "trauma-drama" - a term I invented when teaching young students music lessons.
These trauma-drama students would make faces, stop playing and even exclaim out loud at every wrong note or even imagined mishap. Often, these students believed that their job was to play perfectly all the time and that the goal of playing their instrument was to never make a mistake. They were often surprised and disagreed at first when I told them that even the world's best musicians make mistakes in their performances. The goal is not to play perfectly but to make music, to play with passion and sensitivity. The performances that move me to tears and are amazing are those that make clear the performers passion and love for the music. When that happens, the music transcends the ages or performance levels and touches the heart. I have had that happen when listening to some of the world's greatest performers and also the local high school or middle school band or choir. Trauma-drama only calls attention to mistakes and stops the music, multiplying and magnifying all the problems.
It is a much more important lesson for us in the church. Our calling is not to worry about making perfect decisions or being perfect Christians. On some level we all know it, but all too often we live as if that is indeed our goal as people of faith. Instead, we need to focus on the passion, the love of each other and the gospel which is the music, the message that we project to the people around us. Even if we could attain a veneer of perfection, instead of being a beacon of good news, it can act as a barrier to those who most need to hear it.
Jesus knew it best (of course). Love speaks the loudest. It is the music that sings to hearts that are storm-tossed, weary, and buffeted about. God's love is strong enough even in the roughest times.
The tendency for some to have trauma-drama is just disruptive and distracting and keeps the message from being heard. Our fear of making mistakes often keeps us from acting at all or makes it all to easy for some to decide to leave the witness of the church to the "professionals". Our witness to the world is the love we show.
God gave the gift of the Son. Jesus has done the work of saving us. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith and makes us holy. All we have to do is float together in the waters of baptism, drawing strength and love from each other. Read John 15: 23-27
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