The Knit Wit

 "Teach me to walk in your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth ..." Psalm 86

It has been a tough week or two, hasn’t it? I don’t do political blather in this space, so don’t worry. I’m not going there. After all, I know what happened to Jesus when he got all political in his line of work.

We are, of course, political creatures. Sometimes the word “politics” gets bad press, but it really boils down to how we go about the business of getting along with one another with minimal bloodshed. Couples engage in politics when they try to decide between going to the ocean to enjoy some sun and surf, or go into the mountains to make their way along hiking trails, past mosquitoes, and on to waterfall overlooks on their vacations. 

Politics has to do with basic fairness, and making sure everybody’s voice is heard and every reasonable option discerned – and deciding what counts as a “reasonable” option (easier said than done). 

When Jesus told his disciples they were to love God with all their heart, he was making a political statement. He was reminding them there is more to life than accumulating riches or consuming goodies. To love God means coming to grips with the fact that there is something or someone bigger than us. Yes, it could be the Jewish/Christian/Muslim Creator God, or it could be the Universe’s Life Force, or simply a name for all energy and matter arranged in their peculiar manners, spinning around in all directions forever and ever. 

Whatever we call “God” is a reminder that I am not the boss of you, nor you of me – and Jesus suggests that’s both lovely and worth loving. Politics (not to be confused with partisanship) is how we respond to the idea there’s something bigger and more important than any one of us, while acknowledging a truth of equal weight, that each one of us is of infinite value and worth.

That’s why Jesus added that other wonderful text from the Hebrew Scriptures reminding us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He tells a really uncomfortable story we call the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which is less about the Samaritan doing something nice, and more about needing others and being needed. “Who proved to be neighbor,” he asks? “The one I’d rather be dead than have them touch me,” says the lawyer (glumly). 

Ouch! Politics makes for strange bed-fellows. But that’s the point. There’s only one bed, and we all have a place in it. Have you ever been on a trip – a vacation – and had four siblings squeezed into the back seat shoulder to shoulder (before mandatory seat-belt laws)? 

Talk about politics! My parents never settled arguments or fights. We could fight all we wanted as long as we followed two simple rules: No Bloodshed, and No Noise. If there was either of those, there would be both of those when the car came to a stop. So we learned to get along, make space, and not be irritable little twits so we could achieve a modicum of peace for the long haul (and believe me, Seattle to Chicago in the back of a 1965 Plymouth Fury III was a L-O-N-G haul).

What does the psalmist pray for during trying times? 

“Knit my heart to you (O Lord) … for you have delivered me from the depths.” I don’t mind asking God to knit my heart to the Divine, but what if that means knitting my heart to you, and you to me, and us to family, friend, neighbor, and even the “undocumented” who live in our land?

I could be wrong, but I don’t think God can knit our hearts to his without running skeins of yarn through people who may not look like us, think like us, or act like us. I don’t know much about knitting, but I know it requires someone with more skills and patience than me to pull it off – and the psalmist believes God is up to the task! 

If we will let God have her way with us, we may actually end up being a beautiful piece of non-partisan work in this, our valley. Knit on, O Lord, for this knit-wit comes unraveled far too easily!

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of newly released: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available exclusively through Amazon in Print and e-book)

The Passion of Compassion

 "Compassion is the ability to see how it all is." Ram Dass

Mother Teresa once said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”  One of my goals for 2021 is to become more compassionate. That may not seem like much, but I got to thinking about how Covid-isolation has affected me, and in my meditations and contemplations it has occurred to me that I don’t have a good handle on how the pandemic is affecting others because in my isolation, I have simply lost touch with people outside of my “pod.”

I think many people are suffering from Covid-fatigue. I know when the pandemic first hit, we became hyper-vigilant. I was aware of every sneeze, cough, or physical sensation that seemed to line up with symptoms of the disease. I dutifully wore my mask whenever I went to the store, wiped down the trolleys with the sanitizing rags at the store entrances, and stopped buying fresh fruits and vegetables (because I didn’t dare lick my fingers to open those silly plastic bags they provide for fresh produce). When I got home I would bring in the groceries, wash my hands, put the groceries away, and wash my hands yet again.

Although I still mask up whenever I go to the store (and still don’t lick my fingers), I’m not nearly as fastidious with the wipes. I don’t wash my hands quite as vigorously or often as I once did. I avoid public spaces as best I can and have gotten used to not shaking hands with strangers or hugging friends and family.

We are told that touch is critical for good mental health, and I believe it. Although I am not a hugger by nature, I do like the customary niceties of shaking hands with people I am meeting for the first time or when conducting business. I miss giving and receiving hugs with close friends and family on social occasions (that are now so rare). My natural hugging circle has always been small, but today it is miniscule and far too tiny – and I am all the smaller for it.

When we get tinier, it seems our capacity to feel and empathize may also get smaller. We become like Tinker Bell who, being quite petite, was neither all good or all bad; she only had room for one feeling at a time. I’m beginning to feel that way, too. Sadly, it seems it is the nice feelings that got edged out first.

Thanksgiving came. I wanted to be thankful, but it came out with a Meh. Then came the pre-Christmas season of Advent and gift-buying, but my joy came out Bleh. Then Christmas Day and our Pod celebration. My soul experienced the “celebration” with an inner eye-roll. Even the cinnamon rolls didn’t sweeten my disposition (which was cleverly hidden by a well-practiced series of smiles, oohs, and ahs).

No, growing smallness tends to push away the nicer feelings, leaving room only for the grumps (with or without the letter g). As usual, when my emotions go awry, I’ve found the best solution is to take actions which give lie to those feelings, and replace them with an attitude one prefers to cultivate.

I believe God calls us to embrace one another both literally and figuratively, because God knows we need one another for both our physical, social, and spiritual well-being. Isolation makes me very selfish. How selfish? Well, I don’t even want to share that insight with you! Wow!!!

So when I am feeling selfish or close-hearted, I need to find ways to reach out beyond my own skin. I need to get out of my own skull (for that is one dark and dreary neighborhood). I need to talk to others and ask how they’re doing. I need to find ways to be of service. I need to stop whining (although, to be honest, I’m quite good at it) and simply do things that bring pleasure all around.

The fact is, life is good. I survived the pandemic; I survived 2020; a vaccine is en route (as will be hugs and handshakes). Compassion begets passion, and that’s good enough for me. I hope it will be good enough for you, too, here in this, our valley.

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of newly released: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available exclusively through Amazon in Print and e-book)