Beyond

"In storms it seems we have two systems of response. We have the normal bodily response, which is fight-or-flight, fear and anger. But another style of response emerges from our souls, from that core piece of ourselves … and this response is an aesthetic response. 

It’s the one that causes us to hunger for beauty, to be called by beauty, to partake in beauty, to pay attention to compassionate actions, to sacrifice for a neighbor, to keep a neighbor safe. These actions and these acts of beauty, like the Sermon on the Mount, often involve flipping the script, upending values. On one level, these acts of beauty and pure gift and loving care are radically illogical. They are vulnerability in the face of danger. They are gentleness in the midst of bitterness. They are compassion in the midst of strife. But … these are the acts that have the power to open hearts, these are the acts that have the power to shock a revolution in our culture and in our consciousness".

David Brooks.

I don't know how it's been for you, but if I were to take a guess based on some of my own experiences, I'd say there have certainly been times where you have felt very vulnerable of late. Whether its been the lockdown, the threat of the virus, worries about work or education or just being able to be 'normal' again, life has often proved to be about concerns "way bigger" than routine, that are real and troubling for each of us, especially as the answer to pretty much all of these trials is that, well, we don't know if, even when, things can be the same.

Our initial response is pretty predictable. Those 'little' worries about practical things begin to mount up, especially if there's an event (or series of them!) that bring the angst rushing forward arises, and we find ourselves overwhelmed by circumstances or feelings that leave us incapable of resolve or at least a manageable solution.
I recall sitting on a bus some months ago, watching the numbers traveling to work each day dwindling down to just one or two and thinking "what is going to happen next?". What unfolded, of course, was just plain weird. It has been one of the most uncertain times of our lives.

The quote above, however, says there is a flip side to the trauma, which is beyond the norm.
Naturally, we should only get particular reactions to this threat - what evolution deems 'fight or flight' - and given the nature of this menace, the reaction we would expect is one of panic.
We certainly saw something of that in the pillaging of the supermarkets, and the flip side in the violence of the last few weeks, but even as the stampede for particular household goods was under way, we were already hearing of incredible acts of selfless giving for the sake of others, often total strangers.

Perhaps one of the most enriching things to come out of this entire trouble has been that people have found ways to care for each other in a deeper fashion, and, as a result, discovered that even amidst some of our deepest pain and hardship, there is a wealth of meaning, of beauty, to be discovered, that totally overwhelms us.

One of the things I've always enjoyed about good movies (you know, the ones that say something genuine about us) is the way that they get to me - making me laugh or cry or just become overwhelmed by what I'm encountering in that scene. Good stories reach inside us and say 'this is what it's really all about - this is what counts... this is being human'. They drive us to a place where the richness of our existence is affirmed and esteemed by saying 'this is good', and we respond in a way that says, 'absolutely'.

Beyond the worries and the weakness, beyond the failure, there's a genuine, diamond-sharp reality that says we are here to know something far better than just surviving, and if we take those harsher moments and use them well, we will unearth the greatness, the overwhelming significance, of love that can encompass all of life and make us wealthy, even amidst our hardest trials.

As Jesus Himself noted, "Don't be anxious about life - what you'll eat or drink or what you'll wear. Isn't life about more than food, or your body about more than clothes? Take a look at the birds. They don't have barns for stores, but their Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of more value? Will worry add even a single moment to your lives? Look at the flowers of the field. They don't toil, but even a great king like Solomon wasn't as beautifully dressed as them, so why do you worry about clothes? Seek first God's goodness, and everything else will be taken care of" (Matthew 6:25-33).

We all know that when we put love first - our love for each other - things are so much better. Life is at it's best when God's love can become ours, even in the deepest trials.