Think About It. Dynamic Tension Redux. With a gnawing need to tell someone, I called our only ordained family member, Reverend Brown. Since the subject was seriously funny, the risk of sharing this wholly humorous bit of holy humor was greater since my reputation does not include frequent church attendance. With the baptism of Kaleb, one of my dozen or so great-grandchildren, it seemed the right time to return. On my most recent some ten years ago, I was assured by a church elder that they had been praying for me.
The whole question of good and evil is weighted heavily by the fact there is significant disagreement as to which is the right course. It seems that little progress is made by either side. My first philosophy professor kicked things off in class by asking whether we believed in the progressive perfectibility of man. Always the optimist, my response was quickly positive. What is yours?
Recently on NPR there was an extensive review of perhaps the most painful decision a mother can make. Suppose vicious invaders intended to kill everyone in town if they heard a human sound, would you smother your stirring baby to prevent everyone in the village, including your child, from being murdered? Would you? This dual-edged sword provides for perhaps no morally correct answer. Mothers in an extensive survey accompanied by a brain study during the questioning produced a stunning volume of wave activity in the frontal lobe and a probably predictable result. Both right or both wrong? It was 50-50.
Cartoons often illustrate our seemingly unending moral struggles by a tiny haloed angel on one shoulder and a pointy-horned, fork-tailed little devil on the other. In real life these instructional forces are much larger and more powerful. Every day we hear the still small voices of these life changing advisers. You know which one you should heed. But, no one can escape the push and pull of life’s temptations and advisers, well meaning or not.
Recently we spoke of this stress in Dynamic Tension, and here we see it again. This time my struggle was whether to tell anyone my thoughts of Reverend Colter’s seeking divine intercession requests from the congregation. “Last Sunday we prayed for the mother and grandmother of the “Smith” family. She passed away this week. Who would like to make prayer requests today?” When I got up the gumption to broach the subject and reported my problem, the long wait for a response from the son-in-law I so much admire was caused by seemingly unstoppable laughter at the incongruous church offering. After telling me about the volumes of pulpit humor supplied to clergy for their homilies, he suggested, “You should have asked to be taken off the list”. With the greatest of respect by California pastor Steve for the Indiana pastor Steve, it seemed to me that approval had been granted.
But, I hope I’m correct that the tightrope I walked fit comfortably the topic of Dynamic Tension Redux. Think About It.