As the new one in a group, it is easy to see what the rest of the team have come to accept. One knows that one cannot simply blurt the truth out. Life does not usually work that way. Simple (obvious) questions are an easy way to begin. Teasing out what everyone thinks is well hidden, open the door to a conversation about history and how we got to where we are. The challenge is then what comes next.
As I begin to talk about the hidden stuff everyone knows, I can see the barriers to further conversation start to emerge. Whatever one’s perspective, one wants to feel good. The hidden stuff is often difficult and troublesome. It sounds like it is bad. It feels like failure. It seems as though nobody is sure where s/he should look.
In trying to figure out which way I need to face, the following mantras come to mind.
We are all on the road of change. Whatever we might think, knowing that we live means that we will respond to life around us. This process will change us; experience always touches us from the inside out. The only question rests in what we are changing towards.
We have all made choices. We are where we are. Trying to run away from this point does not change the present. David’s observation is still valid; “I’ve already run for dear life straight to the arms of God. So why would I run away now when you say, the evil bows are bent, the wicked arrows aimed to shoot under cover of darkness at every heart open to God?” (Psalm 11.1, 2)
Whatever our history is, wherever we find ourselves, the question is where do I want to be? Do I know? If I do, take history’s lessons and the present as a starting point towards the destination. If I do not, perhaps it is time to figure that question out before I start moving.
It feel like a ready, set, action moment. It is, but with a stop and think first.
