Reality

I haven't blogged at all in the past several weeks. I've been working on a big project and it's consumed most of my free time. . . oh, and also, LOST returned to TV. If you already watch LOST, I don't need to tell you how good it is, and if you don't, then please don't try to jump in. Do yourself a favor and get the DVDs. Start from the beginning and catch up before the sixth and final season starts next year.

LOST is all about storytelling, and the story becomes much more powerful as you revisit it on different levels. This past week there were things that made Melinda and me think back to the first season. Questions were answered that we had almost forgotten about. New questions were raised that changed what we thought we already knew. The thing about LOST is this: You never really know what's going on. You might think you do from time to time, but then something happens that makes you reevaluate what you thought was settled.

Though the gospel is devoid of smoke monsters, Others, and Dharma stations, I think it should challenge our understanding of reality in much the same way. God's kingdom is no ordinary kingdom, and what is seen visibly does not do justice to the actual nature of the divine order. Our ways are not God's ways. . . but aren't they supposed to be?

Take this economic meltdown for instance. Every news report and sound bite offers dismal predictions about the future. The rising unemployment and declining retail sales numbers all point to an uncertain and fearful year ahead. But maybe this recession/quasi-depression is actually a blessing in disguise.

Brian McLaren wrote a great piece for the Sojourners blog, God's Politics. In the article, he questioned what "recovery" should really mean. He noted that a drug addict in recovery doesn't seek a return to the same high he once knew. Instead, he looks for an alternative, sustainable lifestyle. Our approach to "recovery" should be similar. McLaren writes, "[a recovering drug addict] realizes that his addiction to drugs was a symptom of other deeper issues and diseases in his life … unresolved pain or anger, the need to anesthetize painful emotions, lack of creativity in finding ways to feel happy and alive, unaddressed relational and spiritual deficits, lack of self-awareness, and so on." And he continues, "Similarly, I’d like to suggest whenever we hear the word 'recovery,' we as a nation see it not as a call to get back our old addictive high, but rather as a call to face our corporate and personal addictions. . ."

I think McLaren is onto something. What good would it do just to get things back to the status quo? Our overconsumption and selfishness is what got us into this mess in the first place. We have to try something different. And that's where the message of Scripture comes in. We now have the opportunity to start living like the Church. We had this opportunity all along, but things were convenient and selfless love was hard. Now, it seems, we've been given the opportunity to get things right.

Back to LOST. The show is called LOST for a reason. Yes, the main characters are lost on an island, but each character is also "lost" in some other way. The survivors were a myriad of things back in their old lives. There's a murderer, a drug addict, a parapelegic with daddy issues, a con-artist, a cursed millionaire... and on and on. But on the island, all that has been stripped away. Even the parapelegic is healed. Being stranded on a desert island would normally be considered a tragedy, but it was the best thing that could ever have happened to these folks. Except for one thing. . . They have no idea.

Then, a funny thing happened at the end of season four: Six of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 were rescued and were able to return to life as usual. Though it's what they've wanted since episode 1, going back to civilization didn't fix their problems. Instead, the Oceanic 6 (as they're called) are now beginning to realize that they never should have left. Not only are the folks they left behind in great danger because they went home, but their own lives are a mess as well. It turns out that the hardship of living on the island wasn't really a hardship at all; it was freedom.

For us, doing with less might not be a hardship either. It might actually be the freedom we've been waiting for. My intention is not to make light of the situation in which many people are now finding themselves - unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. But, what I am suggesting is that we ought to at least consider the possibility that the dramatic slowdown in our economy is a blessing. And let's see how God can use it to change us personally and as a community.

Also, watch LOST. It rocks.

Source:

Brian McLaren, "Two Kinds of Economic Recovery," God's Politics: A blog by Jim Wallis & Friends, February 10, 2009. Available here: http://blog.sojo.net/2009/02/10/two-kinds-of-recovery/.