Day 13

One day at a time
The quick fix is surely an epidemic in our culture. A quick online query yielded: lose 18 pounds in 4 days, 12 days to dynamic health, 30 days to a younger you, 30 days to a happy employee, 40 days to success in real estate investing, and 42 days to wealth, health and happiness.
The last option seems to be the package plan. You can be healthy in 12 days, happy in 30 days and wealthy in 40, but if you bundle them, you can do it all for a bargain - 42 days.

I'm not an economist, but if we can believe what some of them are saying about the causes that led to our current situation, getting rich quick seems to be part of the problem. After all, who wants to get rich slowly, if you can get rich quickly?
Likewise, who wants to have an undivided life that takes a lifetime, if there's an option to have it today?

Haven't we learned that diet pills and quick fix fads are at best, an illusion and at worst, dangerous? Isn't it also true of get quick rich schemes and day trading? It's even true of our religious pursuits. I've known people who start praying or meditating but give it up after a couple of weeks because, "I don't think anything's happening."

Like weight gain and weight loss or even the economy, if it took us awhile to get to our current unhealthy condition, it will probalby take as long to get back. And when it comes to a speedy spiritual quest, one look at the lives of saints, mystics and biblical heroes, yields no formulas for a fast fix. If anything, most hint at a trajectory longer than their own lives.

Could there be a quick solution toward an undivided life? Even if we could live an undivided life today, we'd have to choose to do so again tomorrow, and the day after... Maybe if we string enough of those together, we'll end up with an undivided life.

I believe it's equally true of the church. When a congregation has grown unhealthy due to conflict or neglect, it will take an equal amount of time to regain it's previous health. On the surface, it may seem like everything's back to normal, but it will take time to unlearn unhealthy patterns, to heal wounds and grudges that have been nursed over time and to regain trust. Gratefully, I find the church is full of people willing to take the long view toward wholeness for the life of the church and their own lives.

I don't know that it's possible to identify any large faith community as a "circle of trust," but I do find many "circles of trust" within our faith community. The more circles there are, the more solitude in community we may create for the journey.

May our embrace of solitude bring us back to the circles of trust in our community, and may our own journey toward wholeness bring wholeness to our community of faith.


Note: I've been feeling it, but between Day 12's post and today's reading, I feel like I'm writing a day ahead of my reading. It may even seem that way, but I'm not actually reading ahead. I suspect I'm overly familiar with Parker's writing and work. So, I may be anticipating the next day's writings.