Have you ever noticed how many people in the Bible are having a bad day?
This question occurred to me while talking to a cousin this week. As I unpack this a little more, it's growing some legs. This isn't just Job losing everything and everyone or everybody at Golgotha. There are a lot of stressed-out people in that relatively short book. (Depending on the edition, it has anywhere from just shy of 1,300 pages to a little over 2,000 pages.)
Thinking on this further, most of the myths and sacred stories from Western traditions have the stressed and ultimately blessed as their heroes. Even though this is not the main hangtag of a hero's journey as defined by Lord or Campbell, it certainly helps when you're trying to point them out in crowd.
It brings up a common thread among various paths. Sometimes I think we are given these stories as a way of telling us we need a big, steaming cup of perspective.
"Are you there, God? It's me, Jas."
"Yeah. Jas. You do know there is mass starvation in Yemen and people killing each other over ancient tribal disagreements they can't even identify in the Middle East. Closer to home, there are three children left to their own devices in an apartment just off Charlotte Avenue who are sharing ketchup packets because it is the only thing left that is edible until their grandmother gets off from work. So what is it among your own resources that does not cover your needs?"
"The perspective I just found. Thanks for the reminder."
My woobies and feefees are what rendered me unable to write anything helpful to people wrestling with problems over the past few weeks. All I could offer was the next best thing. Okay, strike that. It was actually far better to do what I did, which was to listen.
We need to listen more. It would help keep our senses of perspective sharper and open to the constant adjustments we need to make. Whether it's as allies or friends or family, sometimes we just need to shut up and let someone else slip their shoes on our feet. We might be wiser and better able to help if we did.
This question occurred to me while talking to a cousin this week. As I unpack this a little more, it's growing some legs. This isn't just Job losing everything and everyone or everybody at Golgotha. There are a lot of stressed-out people in that relatively short book. (Depending on the edition, it has anywhere from just shy of 1,300 pages to a little over 2,000 pages.)
Thinking on this further, most of the myths and sacred stories from Western traditions have the stressed and ultimately blessed as their heroes. Even though this is not the main hangtag of a hero's journey as defined by Lord or Campbell, it certainly helps when you're trying to point them out in crowd.
It brings up a common thread among various paths. Sometimes I think we are given these stories as a way of telling us we need a big, steaming cup of perspective.
"Are you there, God? It's me, Jas."
"Yeah. Jas. You do know there is mass starvation in Yemen and people killing each other over ancient tribal disagreements they can't even identify in the Middle East. Closer to home, there are three children left to their own devices in an apartment just off Charlotte Avenue who are sharing ketchup packets because it is the only thing left that is edible until their grandmother gets off from work. So what is it among your own resources that does not cover your needs?"
"The perspective I just found. Thanks for the reminder."
My woobies and feefees are what rendered me unable to write anything helpful to people wrestling with problems over the past few weeks. All I could offer was the next best thing. Okay, strike that. It was actually far better to do what I did, which was to listen.
We need to listen more. It would help keep our senses of perspective sharper and open to the constant adjustments we need to make. Whether it's as allies or friends or family, sometimes we just need to shut up and let someone else slip their shoes on our feet. We might be wiser and better able to help if we did.
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