It
seems to be a universal principle that chaos precedes creation. Every planet in
the universe emerged from a giant, rotating cloud of swirling cosmic debris and
gas. All songs, paintings, and poems are the result of a complicated series of
electrical impulses and chemical neurotransmitters in our brains. Every good
meal begins as a set of disparate ingredients that need to be combined in
certain amounts, with varying degrees of heat, in certain sequences. But if
chaos is so universal, why does it often make us feel so disoriented and uneasy?
Typically I'm a calm person, but lately I’ve been feeling increasingly
anxious as the chaos of election season in the U.S. intensifies. Anxiety often stems
from a lack of control, and I certainly can’t control the outcome of the election.
However, I can choose to step back and ground myself in God, who ultimately
brings good out of any situation, even the death of his Son. I also can choose
to emulate Jesus by responding to hatred with love and forgiveness.
Whit
Merrifield, a Kansas City Royals baseball player, summed it up well in today’s issue
of the Kansas City Star as he
reflected on the nation’s racial conflicts: “What I know is that love brings on
love and hate brings on hate…. I’m going to go out and try to love everybody. …being
the Christian man that I am, that’s the number one rule that I like to live by.”
When
we are in the midst of chaos, it is more important than ever to listen to the voice
of Christ. As Esther de Waal notes in her book A Life-Giving Way, when I do that, “I realize that what I am being
asked to do here is simply to fulfill the law of love, which is where in the
end everything in Benedict’s rule of life is leading me.” My responsibility in
the midst of the current chaos in the United States is to fulfill the law of
love in the daily circumstances of my life. Then I can place my trust in God’s own
love, justice, mercy, and sometimes inexplicable timing and gain a measure of
peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment