meditation on long distance #2

One way we become weary is physical: too little sleep or lots of physical work. When we’re weary we may make poor decisions and make our situation worse. A second way to become weary is to have energy, but be required to put that energy into work that’s wrong for us: continually doing the things we that don’t bring out the best in ourselves, the things that don’t remind us about God in our lives, and the things that demand we avoid contact with positive, energy giving values.

The movie, “the Brave One” is just out with Jodie Foster. She’s a NYC radio personality who talks about the streets of New York. Through violence done to herself and her lover, she collapses into a heap of rage. She buys a gun (illegally, of course) and becomes a vigilante, killing bad people. At the end of the movie, the credits roll and the name of the film, “the Brave One” made me wonder, “who is brave in this film?” Jodie Foster, who’s vigilante attitude could have caused the devolution of society, her friend the cop, who colludes with her, her friend who lives in the same building, who has gone through the boy soldier wars in Africa, or her dog, who is held captive and is freed to go home.

Who is brave in life? It could be the people “do what they have to do.” It could also be those who break out and bring God’s vision to our planet.

Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament scholar, puts it this way:

“So what is it that makes people like us weary? It is not working too hard that makes us weary. It is rather, I submit, living a life that is against the grain of our true creatureliness, living a ministry that is against the grain of our true vocation, being placed in a false position so that our day-to-day operation requires us to contradict what we know best about ourselves and what we love most about our life as children of God. Exhaustion comes from the demand that we be, in some measure, other than we truly are; such an alienation requires too much energy to navigate.” (Walter Brueggeman “Mandate to Make a Difference”, p.42)

A brick making story from scripture goes this way:

Exodus 5

5Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! You are unjust to your own people.” 17He said, “You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks.” 20As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them. 21They said to them, “The LORD look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

We’ve always got time to bake bricks, but God shows us a better way than being anxious. Stay tuned.