SHOCK… Wait, Magnolia trees and Sing a new song
People matter: No-one left behind
It is a shock to know that we are in the midst of something profound. It is all about people. It is people who we are collectively trying to protect, love and save; people’s jobs that we are trying to preserve; people’s futures that we are seeking to secure. It is sacrificial NHS and other people who we clapped and cheered at 8pm on Thursday evening from our bedroom windows… and near to us someone was even blowing a bassoon – what a great sound, and oh so Godalming! It is people we collectively lit a candle and prayed for at 7pm last Sunday night alongside over 3 million other people across this Land. It is people we pray for daily at 11am (set your phone) and 5pm if you hear the Busbridge Church bell toll. The message is that, even in the shock and even if you are isolated, you are not alone because people is plural. No-one is left behind.
There is a verse in the Bible which is termed ‘I’ but it was written for public worship; as people together. It was written after a time of huge upheaval and wondering what was happening. It looks back to the attitude that was needed in that upheaval and shock.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God (Psalm 40:1-3).
Purposes changed
Some will recall that I had an accident in our garden. I had climbed our overgrown magnolia tree and was merrily minding my own business sawing large branches off it. I had no idea that things were about to change. At some point in the afternoon, whilst I was not paying attention and thought nothing could go wrong, I managed to saw into my leg quite significantly. I was in a terrible predicament and I was not in the best place to get help. I needed to refocus and fast.
I managed to get down from the tree and alert people to help me but then the most incredible thing happened. I was lying on the ground, compressing the wound and focusing on my leg when all of a sudden one of my fingers locked and went into spasm. I remember lying there looking at my finger and thinking “well that isn’t very helpful”. I may have used a few choice words in there too.
Support soon arrived but all I was worried about by then was my finger. Why had it locked? The first person on the scene explained that my body had gone into shock. My ‘normal world’ of business as usual tree cutting seemed a lifetime ago yet it had been less than 2 minutes. Time seemed to flow at a very different speed and my purposes changed.
Delivering well
I was told later that when the body enters shock it ‘locks down’ areas that are secondary to the main place of shock in order to preserve things for the future. This enables the body to concentrate its energy on the place needing it most. It increased the flow of blood to the brain so that the mind is able to think both fast and slow simultaneously. There is forensic focus on what is occurring but time seems to slow down so that decisions being made fast can be delivered well.
I have heard the word ‘shock’ used many times in recent days. Shock at what it happening; or shock that things did not happen earlier; shock that a liberal democracy has put people in their homes; shock that some people seem ignorant of the enormity of the dangers; shock at losing jobs, homes, income; shock that something small, insignificant and invisible can strip away every vestige of normality; shock that we have to queue for the shops. Shock.
The passage from the Bible is about shocking events. It takes us into a realm of fast-slow thinking; to wait on the Lord. To be ready, but to wait. To look forward but to recognise where we are right now and do things well and that require waiting with clear-thinking rather than rushing.
Shock that releases perspective
Shock seems to be entirely destructive, fearsome and negative and when shock takes hold it can transfix and create inertia as we come to a grinding halt. It can also release and prepare the way. It releases us to concentrate on the most important things; things we had forgotten. We are enabled to reconnect to deep things about ourselves and loved ones that have long become overgrown to the point of losing their shape and purpose. It gives us time to consider and provides a fresh perspective about God.
For me, the magnolia tree and whether it was quite the right shape mattered far less than what I thought of my family, my future and whether help would arrive. At that moment my priorities were reshaped and they have remained reshaped.
The passage from the Bible puts everything into perspective. The writer sees that God alone can draw him to a new perspective which is about freedom. It is a freedom from being in a pit and a muddy bog where the feet slip and slide. The freedom comes from having firm footing beneath our feet and it is hope in God which provides this bedrock. The writer’s response is to praise God. God is praised not for anything having changed in their life. God is praised for His provision of salvation. God is the God who cares for His people in this passage. This is why they collectively gather and say “he has put a new song in my mouth”. It is a song of secure hope.
I am not recommending climbing trees and hacking at the branches. I am recommending taking time to consider that the shock we are in will have profound consequences as we look to the future. Our faith in God gives us a unique hope to bring to this for people. We are unlikely to be able to simply go back to how things were before; and if we did, we would not have learnt a collective lesson as people, families and communities that we are not indestructible. The frailty and beauty of human existence that is forged and created by God as a reflection of his creativity is too precious to be squandered by climbing back into our proverbial magnolia trees and hacking away at what we used to do as if today never occurred.
Join with me in waiting on the Lord, seeking God and considering the firm foundations that faith in Him offers at this time of profound change as we ensure that no-one is left behind in life, faith or provisions.